Europe Claims Four of the Top Five Steel Roller Coasters in 2006!

Note: Scroll to the bottom for links to the results for all 300+ steel roller coasters in the poll.

    For the sixth year in a row, the same two steel roller coasters are in the top two of the poll.
Six Flags New England's Superman: Ride of Steel lost only one mutual rider comparison (9 to 17 versus Expedition GeForce),
whereas Expedition GeForce lost two mutual rider comparisons to lower ranked rides, including a 2 - 1 loss amongst the 
only three riders who had ridden both Expedition GeForce and Australia's new Superman Escape.  

    Nemesis came in at #3, Holland's Goliath at #4.  Both placements were the best ever for those two European thrillers.  Italy's Katun 
finished fifth for a second straight year, just ahead of #6 Millennium Force and #7 Nitro.  Germany's Black Mamba was #8, edging
Georgia's version of Goliath at #10 for the top new steel roller coaster of 2006.  Japan's Pyrenees again placed well at #9.

    Aside from the two new rides in the top 10, here are the other 'new to the poll' rides that finished in the top 100:
#16 Superman Escape - Warner Bros. Australia,  #25 Goliath - La Ronde,  #30 Dragons Fury - Chessington,  #33 Speed: No Limits - Oakwood,
#34 Tatsu - Six Flags Magic Mountain,  #36 BMRX - Kobe Portopialand,  #43 Speed Monster - Tusenfryd,  
#44 Expedition Everest - Disney's Animal Kingdom,  #60 Stealth - Thorpe Park,  #70 Patriot - Worlds of Fun

   With ten new rides in the top 44, it was obviously a great year for new steel roller coasters!

   "Favorite Wood Coaster" would have finished 3rd this year, behind only EGF and Superman (actually tying Superman among its riders) . 

Participation was up this year to 415 ballots, surpassing last year's record of 321.  Keeping with this year's European theme:
The Steel Poll has seemingly become very popular among many German coaster enthusiasts.   For example, It is interesting to note that 
Expedition GeForce had more riders take the poll than SFNE's Superman: Ride of Steel.  Also, Phantasialand's Black Mamba had 50% 
more riders participate in the poll than did the other 'new for 2006' ride in the top ten, SFoG's Goliath.  Ironically, it seems that 
those German voters, on average, rated EGF lower (especially in relation to Black Mamba) than did other voters.



    Within the top 20, the mutual rider tiebreaker was used several times to separate coasters that had
the same number of blemishes (losses + (ties/2)) on their record....note that there are several pairs
of coasters in the top 20 for which the coaster with the marginally better winning percentage (due to 
more valid comparisons against much lower rated coasters) is the lower ranked one of the pair.

    Busch Gardens Tampa is still the park with the top steel coaster duo (and trio), 
with #11 Sheikra, #13 Montu, and #21 Kumba.

    The following chart shows the mutual rider comparisons for the top 13 steel roller coasters.  
Preferences are listed for the people who rode each pair of coasters.  The chart should
be read from left to right along the line for each of the top coasters listed at the left.  For instance, it can 
be seen that #1 Superman won the comparison with #6 Millennium Force by a convincing 57 to 12 margin.

NOTE: the order listed in the spreadsheet is not the official order of finish.




Although M & D's Tornado is listed below Goudurix this year, 'fans' of the French ride will be heartened to know
that Tornado had only 7 riders take the poll and 44 valid mutual rider comparisons (of which the 1-1 deadlock with
Goudurix was not one).

Note that any links below that are not yet active will be soon (when they are completed).