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B&M vs. Intamin

B&M or Intamin

  • B&M

    Votes: 44 62.0%
  • Intamin

    Votes: 27 38.0%

  • Total voters
    71

JJLehto

Hyper Poster
Re: B&M vs Intamin

caffeine_demon said:
nah - RCCA is where it's at!

The shame is all their coasters look so beautiful.
Then ya know, they are horrible devices of torture...


I know this is a coaster site but Intamin does indeed make other rides as well, so yeah that's another nod for them. And I think that, their innovativeness, diversity and just better "top" coasters make win over B&M even if their more stable and far more reliable.
Even the lesser Intamins are pretty great. Superman at Darien Lake my have a bland layout but it was damn fun.
 

Wildmouse695

Roller Poster
Re: B&M vs Intamin

Intamin edges it, B&M are Awesome, but play it safe a little too often

It's almost like B&M are the Mercedes of coasters, classy, reliable but Intamin are like Lamborghini; spectacular but temperamental.
 

Snowman

Roller Poster
Re: B&M vs Intamin

I totally agree with what's being said already- B&M makes quality rides with nothing bad, and Intamin can be totally awful or absolutely fantastic. There's really not much to dispute as far as that goes.

My preference lies with Intamin. I feel like innovation and new ideas are always more fun for me than something in my comfort zone that's similar to other stuff I've already done already. I almost feel like once you've been on a B&M Stand-Up/Floorless/Hyper/Invert, you've pretty much experienced the major aspects of every other similar B&M ride. Is the layout the same? No, not exactly. Are the loops, cobra rolls, zero-G rolls, dive loops, Immelmanns, and corkscrews the same? Well, yeah, but they can be different sizes here and there. Air the airtime hills on their hypers the same? Yup. At least as far as I'm aware, the only ride they've engineered that could truly be considered unique is The Hulk, simply because an uphill launch never really existed prior, and is still uncommon. With Intamin, you can just go on and on about their unique and new things, which to me is worth more. As far as reliability is concerned, the only Intamin ride I've ever seen not operating is Xcelerator, and I'm more inclined to blame Knott's for that.
 

NegativeG

Roller Poster
Re: B&M vs Intamin

Yup- basically what everyone's already said. I'll go with Intamin, though.

B&M are the perfectionists. You know what you're getting when you get on a B&M coaster. It'll be smooth, fast, and comfortable. It'll almost never be closed when you go to a park. With that said, I don't think B&M are the most daring. Nothing has really changed in their models or layouts. I don't think I've ever gotten off a newer B&M dizzy are having to catch my breath on the brake run. Old Beemers like Batman and Raptor pack a punch, but I feel like the newer rides are rather forceless.

Intamin, on the other hand, is like that crazy and sometimes stupid friend you have. You'll see things you never expected from a Intamin. They'll do almost anything you ask them to. Intamin will sacrifice some reliabilty for innovation and a sometimes insane riding experience. My top 5 are all Intamin. I'm willing to give a ride a pass if it breaks done a lot for a breathtaking experience when it's open.
 

MouseAT

Hyper Poster
Re: B&M vs Intamin

It's a difficult call right now. I'm on the fence.

On the one hand, my overall favourite steel coaster is a B&M (Katun). On the other hand, my top 10 includes several of the best Intamin coasters.

It's a bit weird. Intamin seem to have odd one-off rides where they manage to produce something almost perfect. Those rides are so much better than the generic blandness we seem to get most of the time from B&M.

That said, every once in a while, B&M will pull something amazing out of the bag, and create one of their "generic" rides that just manages to stand out from the crowd.

On the one hand, B&M seem to be producing very bland rides these days. They're smooth, they ride reasonably well, but most of the time they just don't have the wow factor any more. That would have me running into the Intamin camp where they're still trying to push the boat out, except that Intamin seem to be making a balls up of their recent flagship rides, so there's no-one really producing really good, solid new rides. Neither company seems to be creating anything that's REALLY good these days. There's always too much compromise made somewhere.

It's quite ironic that both companies best rides seem to be rides that are several years old.
 

andrus

Giga Poster
Re: B&M vs Intamin

^Speak for yourself. My top three consists of Skrush, I305 and Black Mamba. All three recent creation from respective manufacturer! I think we're looking at a bright future. Intamin has reacently branched out making some really intense and interesting rides that separates from everthing we've seen in the past. And B&M has recently become inovative again creating some interesting layouts :)
 

JJLehto

Hyper Poster
Re: B&M vs Intamin

andrus said:
^Speak for yourself. My top three consists of Skrush, I305 and Black Mamba. All three recent creation from respective manufacturer! I think we're looking at a bright future. Intamin has reacently branched out making some really intense and interesting rides that separates from everthing we've seen in the past. And B&M has recently become inovative again creating some interesting layouts :)

Yeah 6 of my 10 are Intamin, with Nitro surely going to fall a bit this year.
You are right B&M is at least getting "with it" again, after being the cutting edgers they just got kinda bland made their 7 looper/inverted clones all over the place. And trimming their hypers :(
The wing rider thing seems kinda gimmicky but at least it's something.

Hopefully we'll see a launch coaster from them!
 

MouseAT

Hyper Poster
Re: B&M vs Intamin

andrus said:
^Speak for yourself. My top three consists of Skrush, I305 and Black Mamba. All three recent creation from respective manufacturer! I think we're looking at a bright future. Intamin has reacently branched out making some really intense and interesting rides that separates from everthing we've seen in the past. And B&M has recently become inovative again creating some interesting layouts :)
So out of those, Skyrush has had issues with its restraints and I305 has had well documented issues of its own. iSpeed was just plain lethal. It's not that Intamin aren't trying to push the limits, it's that they're making a bit of a mess doing it. Hopefully they'll start to get things ironed out eventually. Intamin's rides have always been a bit hit and miss, so it's not helping when they build what on paper they build what should amazing, but in practice is a bit too flawed to live up to expectations.

As for B&M, again it's a mixed bag. I hear great things about Black Mamba, I loved Talon, but a lot of their floorless coasters were a bit bland. They had a great ride with Raptor, and then built a poor follow up with Swarm. Where is the next Nemesis? Where is the next Katun? They've built some amazing rides over the years, but they've also built a lot of good rides that should have been great but were ultimately lacking.
 

Hyde

Matt SR
Staff member
Moderator
Social Media Team
Re: B&M vs Intamin

I think that Intamin's design faults aren't necessarily that important. Skyrush, I305, Maverick, etc. have all had side effect issues with restraints, propulsion systems, and trim brakes.

Yet that does not effect their rankings as the best roller coasters in the world. Popularity is based on rider experience, not downtime or growth problems (which for the most part work themselves out over a few years).
 

JJLehto

Hyper Poster
Re: B&M vs Intamin

Intamin really really do no need to fix their OTSR
They just suck. Also forces you to hold on (least for me) since it seems to cut down on the pain.

As for Skyrush they'll figure something out but what can ya expect with -2gs? If you want an intense ride gunna have to actually feel it :lol:
I305 has these soft, belt like restraints now that are quite comfy!
 

MouseAT

Hyper Poster
Re: B&M vs Intamin

Hyde244 said:
I think that Intamin's design faults aren't necessarily that important. Skyrush, I305, Maverick, etc. have all had side effect issues with restraints, propulsion systems, and trim brakes.

Yet that does not effect their rankings as the best roller coasters in the world. Popularity is based on rider experience, not downtime or growth problems (which for the most part work themselves out over a few years).
See, that's the thing. These are all things that can ruin ride experience if they're not up to scratch. i305 had a massive trim on its drop for ages and had to have its restraints changed because the original ones were supposedly unpleasant. I get the impression that reactions to the ride are somewhat mixed. Th13teen should have been a decent family coaster, but is ruined by a ridiculous trim. iSpeed had the makings, forces and of a top 10 coaster, but the restraints made the ride so horrible that it didn't even make my top 20.

You're right that nobody notices these things as long as they're "good enough", but they make a big difference if they're bad enough that they get in the way of people enjoying the ride.
 

Hyde

Matt SR
Staff member
Moderator
Social Media Team
Re: B&M vs Intamin

But how many Intamin roller coasters are "not up to scratch." For every iSpeed, there will be a Maverick. For every I305, a MF or Bizarro. You can also consider the X-factor of Intamin wooden coasters, drop towers, and water rides - majority of which are rather good.

Intamin has had its failures, but it has also had its successes - the number one and two Mitch Hawker roller coasters in both the wood and steel categories is Intamin.

While B&M averages high roller coasters rankings, Intamin has both higher and lower rankings. It is tough to say one company is definitively better.
 

tyguy1st

Roller Poster
Intamin, because B&M makes super fun rides, but they all have similar layouts. Intamin roller coasters are almost always unique and thrilling.
 

jolash

Mega Poster
Re: B&M vs. Intamin

tyguy1st said:
Intamin, because B&M makes super fun rides, but they all have similar layouts. Intamin roller coasters are almost always unique and thrilling.

You do realize that that is something the park decides, right? They're not gonna call up a company and say "build us something" and just settle with whatever they get.
 

Darren B

Giga Poster
jolash said:
tyguy1st said:
Intamin, because B&M makes super fun rides, but they all have similar layouts. Intamin roller coasters are almost always unique and thrilling.

You do realize that that is something the park decides, right? They're not gonna call up a company and say "build us something" and just settle with whatever they get.

But that's his opinion, and he got every right to state that. And regardless of what the parks request Intamin have always broken the envelope and pushed the boundaries more than B&M have. No need to jump on the lad on his first post. :)

Oh and B&M get my vote.
 

Chris Coasters

Strata Poster
This is a really tough question. My top 10 is a mix of B&M and Intamin. Intamin has some of my favorites like TTD, Maverick, Millennium Force, Fahrenheit, Storm Runner and Bizarro. Although B&M has some of my favorites like Talon, Hydra, Hulk, Gatekeeper, Wild Eagle, Great Bear, and Raptor. If I had to absolutely say I'd go with Intamin. The only B&M's I've been on are floorless, wing riders, inverts, and a standup. And all of the Intamins are unique like tyguy said. The main thing I like more about B&M is restraints. B&M I usually have no problem at all with tons of room, but with Intamin I've had a lot of close calls. I'd still give the nod to Intamin.
 

CPSFMMCW

Mega Poster
Intamin! El Toro, i305, Bizarro, Millenium, Maverick...they're just such fantastic rides! And I have to say, I like Intamin's restraints better than B&M's. But don't get me wrong, i like B&M too, but I think if it came down that if a new coaster was being built, which company would I rather have? And the answer is Intamin. I think though that if B&M took on the 4D design as well as make launched coasters, then we could see a difference.
 

jolash

Mega Poster
I think when you start throwing things like capacity, reliability, and comfort in the equation, B&M wins this hands down. Intamin's got some killer rides out there, but I like to look at the overall picture.

Plus, we have a handful of Intamin rides now that have had to undergo significant modifications after construction. To me, that's a sign of a company who really doesn't know what they're doing.
 

bmac

Giga Poster
Intamin has an idea of what they're doing, they just don't put rider comfort into the equation until after the ride opens.
 
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