Afterburn (Carowinds)

Yay, good ole Afterburn at my home park Carowinds. First of all, this was my first inverted coaster, and it has remained in my top 10 coasters throughout the years. I have heard all my life that this ride is 144 feet tall and 62 mph. However, on RCDB they list Afterburn at 113 feet and 62 mph, which seems unreasonably fast for that size (seeing that Raptor is 137 feet/57 mph, and Banshee is 167 feet/68 mph) and the drop is a whole twelve feet bigger than that. Is this because of the elevated station? So anyway, to get this started, this ride is fast. I mean VERY fast. Fast paced, fast inversions, just a very fast ride. It is nonstop intensity. I just went to Carowinds yesterday, and I was blown away by the intensity of this ride, To start off, you climb your way up the 113/144 foot lift, and get a nice view off to your left. Once to the top, it has a normal invert feel to it until you begin to drop. You are seemingly plummeting towards the parking lot. Let me just say, for a 125 foot drop, it never gets old. Immediately after the drop the intensity kicks in, causing you to briefly gray out at the bottom of the drop. After the wonderful loop, you speed straight into one of the best elements this ride has to offer; The Immelman. After that, its straight into the zero g roll, and then the best part of the ride. You head into the batwing element, and let me tell you this: going through that tunnel at the bottom of the batwing is one of the most intense coaster moments you'll ever experience. It is so intense, not once have I not grayed out there. Also, the tunnel that the bottom of the batwing cuts through is pitch dark at night, so all you can see is darkness and all you hear is the roaring sound of the train through the tunnel. Afterburn at night is a one of a kind experience. After all this chaos, you sprint straight to the final inversion, a corkscrew (and quite an intense one at that), and lastly into the helix finale. Although this ride is on the short side, it still remains in my top 10 after all of these years, and is best ridden at night. After receiving a fresh coat of paint this year, Afterburn has never looked better, and still gives me top-notch rides that I have been enjoying since 1999.

Drop: 8/10
Length: 7/10
Comfort: 8/10
Inversions: 10/10
Speed: 9/10
Smoothness: 9/10
Intensity: 10/10

Overall: 92/100 (World Class)