Maurer Announces New Spike Coaster Trains, Tilting Seats and Layouts

Maurer Rides, celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, has shared new trains and layout concepts for its innovative Spike Coaster model. The new trains can accompany more passengers via coupled cars and two-abreast seating.

But that’s not all — the company also announced the development of tilting sears, offering an entirely new slate of possibilities for these roller coasters.

But first, what exactly is a Spike Coaster? We wrote about the mechanics of the Spike Coaster and how it works when it was announced in 2016. Here’s a snippet:

What is a Spike Coaster?

The Spike Coaster is a powered coaster that is driven by a rack and pinion, like in a car’s steering system.

A rack-and-pinion (via Wikipedia)

As pictured in the animation above, the “rack” is a row of gear teeth that is fixed along the length of the track also known as the “counter-toothing”), while the “pinion” is a gear on the ride vehicle that turns to propel the car down the track.

As of this posting, three Spike Coasters are currently operating (one of those being a pair of racing Spike Coasters) including one on a Carnival cruise ship.


Spike Coaster New Trains, More Capacity

As part of this announcement, Maurer released details about the Spike Coaster’s new higher-capacity trains, featuring a variety of seat configurations and extended train lengths.

The trains can seat two riders per row and up to four rows for a max of eight riders per train. The trains can feature lap restraints or over-the-shoulder restraints.

See animation of the new Spike Coaster trains in the video below:


Spike Coaster Tilting Seats

New tilting seats on the Spike Coaster will allow riders to control the tilt of their seats by using a joystick up to 45 degrees. Attraction designers can also program the tilting rather than handing over the controls to riders. Either way, this would add an exciting dynamic to any coaster.


Spike Coaster New Layouts

Along with the new trains and tilting seats, Maurer also shared new Spike Coaster concept layouts, illustrating how these new Spike Coaster advancements could be implemented in parks. Below are some of those layouts:

Thrill Coasters

Maurer released two concept layouts for more thrilling coasters with twisted layouts and multiple inversions:


Fun Coaster Tower

One of the most eye-catching designs is the Fun Coaster Tower model, standing over 200 feet tall with nearly 2,000 feet of track weaving around the core of the tower at a top speed of about 25 mph.


Family-Friendly Coasters

Maurer also released concepts for slightly tamer layouts that more members of the family could enjoy:


Dark Ride/Indoor Spike Coaster

The possibilities for how the Spike Coaster could be implemented as an indoor coaster/dark ride are near endless.


This isn’t the first new development of the Spike Coaster. Earlier this year, Maurer unveiled a snowmobile-themed Spike Coaster concept.

For more Spike Coaster content, check out our review of the only dual-track Spike Coaster in existence, Desmo Race at Mirabilandia.

Maurer’s plans for the Spike Coaster aren’t slowing down. Hopefully we see one of these new concepts built at a park in the near future.

What do you think about the new Spike Coaster trains and concepts? Where would you like to see one built? Let us know in the comments section below!

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