The World's 10 Fastest Roller Coasters

• Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, part of the United Arab Emirates
• Undetermined coaster manufactured by Intamin AG of Switzerland

Ferrari World, scheduled to open in 2010, has not released much info about the F1 Coaster. This much is known: It will start inside the indoor theme park, accelerate through the dome and travel outside the park, and return to the loading station inside the building. The train's cars will be made to look like flashy red Formula One Ferraris. Designed more for speed, it doesn't appear that the F1 coaster will be especially tall. Reportedly, the ride will be able to reach 150 mph (yikes!), but may operate at a slower speed.

• Nurburgring, Nurburg, Germany
• F1 Thrust Air coaster

ring racer was supposed to open in 2009 at the Nurburgring Race Track and take the record for the world's fastest roller coaster. However, the few days it operated, it never reached record-breaking speeds, and the official launch is now scheduled for 2010. Using its compressed-air launch system, S&S Worldwide, Inc. will design the ride to accelerate from 0 to 135 mph in 2.5 seconds. Ring racer does not include inversions, banked turns, or other elements. In fact, it doesn't even include any hills. Created for speed, the ride will run parallel to the famed German raceway on a straight track, and then turn around and head back to the loading station.

• Animated Preview Video of ring racer

• Six Flags Great Adventure, Jackson, New Jersey
• Hydraulic launch rocket coaster

Less a roller coaster and more a thrill machine designed for bragging rights, Kingda Ka is, in my opinion, a one-trick pony. Granted, it's a heckuva trick and, as the world's fastest coaster, a once-in-a-lifetime rush. But, for me, once is enough. The launch scared me silly--and I'm a fairly seasoned coaster vet. But, in the end, despite its record-breaking 456-foot top hat tower (making it the tallest coaster in the world), Kingda Ka left me flat.

• Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio
• Hydraulic launch rocket coaster

When it debuted in 2003, Top Thrill Dragster was the top dog--the fastest and tallest roller coaster in the world. The similar Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure has since eclipsed it, although not by much. Like all rocket coasters, Top Thrill Dragster is all about the hang-on-for-your-dear-life launch.

• Fuji-Q Highland, Yamanashi, Japan
• F1 Thrust Air coaster

Using a compressed air launch, Dodonpa goes from 0 to 107 mph in just under two seconds. Unlike Germany's ring racer, the Fuji-Q Highland coaster races up and down a 170-foot top hat tower at 90 degrees. The whole ride clocks in at 55 seconds.

• Dreamworld, Queensland, Australia
• Magnetic induction shuttle coaster

Using linear synchronous motors, Tower of Terror (which bears no resemblance to the Disney drop tower rides) shoots straight and up an L-shaped track, slows as it reaches the top (and delivers a huge pop of free-floating airtime), and then retraces its route backwards to the loading station.

• Six Flags Magic Mountain, Valencia, California
• Magnetic induction shuttle coaster

Similar to Australia's Tower of Terror, Superman has a taller (415 feet) tower. The trouble-prone coaster is often not operating.

• Nagashima Spa Land, Nagashima, Japan
• Out and back terra-coaster

Unlike the rides that precede it on the world's fastest roller coasters list, Steel Dragon 2000 uses a traditional lift hill (rising an incredible 318 feet) and gravity to propel it to a face-melting speed. At four minutes and with a length of 8133' feet, the coaster is the world's longest.

• Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio
• Out and back terra-coaster

Cedar Point's second entry on the world's fastest coasters list is a more traditional thrill machine--although Millennium Force uses an elevator cable instead of a lift chain to quickly move its trains up its mammoth 310-foot hill. Accelerating to 93 mph, the ride is so intense that I experienced a brief moment of "grayout" at the bottom of the first drop when I rode the coaster.

• Six Flags Magic Mountain, Valencia, California
• Hypercoaster

Goliath is one of those you-either-love-it-or-you-hate-it roller coasters. Some thrill machine fans put it at or near the top of their favorites list. Put me in the hate-it category for a number of reasons. Chief among them: More than the brief grayout I felt on Millennium Force, I nearly passed out from extreme positive G forces while enduring Goliath's punishing helixes. Extreme speed isn't necessarily a great thing for coasters.