Take a Spin on the Best Roller Coaster in the Carolinas
Due to popular demand, I’m finally getting around to writing my full review of Afterburn; an underrated inverted roller coaster at Carowinds (Charlotte, NC). It was formerly Top Gun: The Jet Coaster until the 2008 season. The movie theming had to go when Paramount sold the park to Cedar Fair. It’s too bad because the ride’s Top Gun theme really added to the experience. I’ll never forget jamming to the Top Gun movie soundtrack in the queue. I wasn’t jamming for too long as the ride’s capacity was spectacular. With two trains that can hold 32 riders each, the line moved quickly.
After boarding the ski-lift style inverted trains, Afterburn lifts riders to its 113′ tall peak. Then, in textbook Bolliger & Mabillard fashion, the train dips into a swooping first drop. The train picks up speed at a rapid pace and before you know it, you’re back in the air for a large vertical loop. The train finishes the loop then races along the ground for a 
moment. Next up, is a smooth Immelmann. It’s a fitting inversion as it’s named after a real fighter jet maneuver. Heading back towards the lift hill the train traverses a sweet zero-g roll (AKA heartline spin). It’s many enthusiasts favorite inversion and always especially fun on an inverted coaster.
For me, Afterburn’s highlight is the batwing inversion. It’s similar to the cobra roll found on the park’s new Carolina Cobra, only it’s upside-down. So on Afterburn, the train dives and inverts downward into a ravine. Montu has a batwing as well, but in the entire coaster world they are not very common. After the subterannean dive and twisting return to the surface, the train swings over pathways and spirals through the final loop; a corkscrew. Your journey ends with a wide, banked helix and then the station brakes.
What Makes Afterburn So Good
As with the best roller coasters, Afterburns pacing and order of inversions is near perfect. They’re not too close together. There’s no wasted areas where you find yourself just waiting for something to happen. And most importantly there’s no break in the action due to a brake run. It’s also super smooth like most B&M 
coasters and encourage re-rides with its quick moving line. Afterburn is an excellent roller coaster that pretty much maxes out the potential of a what an inverted roller coaster can be. It’s a can’t miss coaster if you’re ever in the Carolinas. Final Rating – 9.0 (Excellent)
Afterburn is rated TH for Thrilling. You better be a somewhat of a brave rider to attempt this one. It’s tall, fast, and turns you upside-down six times. Thrilling roller coasters are a 3 out of 5 on my Thrill Scale. See the full scale here.
What’s Your Take?
What do you think of Afterburn at Carowinds? Leave a comment below.
August 14, 2009 at 21:09
This is my second favorite iverted coaster. Alpy is just a tad better because of it's height, speed, and amazing theming.
August 15, 2009 at 05:13
C.C., are u serious about the HRRR twitter post?! Im going there IOA and Seaworld Sunday-Wednesday!
August 15, 2009 at 05:47
Afterburn is definitely my favorite inverted coaster (as you can tell by my willingness to drive to Carowinds from Pittsburgh several times each year!) For us middle-aged female coaster enthusiasts, it scores bonus points for cooling us down with that fine mist! I have an idea … we'll send you the new Kennywood coaster in trade for Afterburn. I agree with you about the efficiency of moving people through the queue. I especially like it in the evenings when they allow you to stay in your seats for a repeat ride provided there is no one in your exact queue line. I'm normally a back seat rider, but since there are always people waiting for that, we have learned to take the next-to-the last seat at night. Last spring, we got 7 rides in a row without ever leaving our seats!
August 15, 2009 at 09:27
Judy, 7 rides in a row would be great. I'll have to go back to the park in the night again. I'm sure during Scarowinds that'd be doable. I think we'll keep Afterburn down here. Thanks for the offer though.
JaMeS. Yes. I haven't found anything official from the park's site, but here's an article that talks more about the soft open. Seems like there may be some random times throughout the day over the next 4 weeks. So your best bet is to ask as many employees there as you can as to exactly what times it will be open for public riders.
August 15, 2009 at 10:30
THANK ALL I KNOW IS GOOD TO ME!
January 31, 2010 at 17:48
?
What does that mean?
February 1, 2010 at 14:07
A "soft opening" means it may be open for riders at random times … to give it some test runs with Joe Public in the seats. These are not announced, so consider yourself lucky if you stumble across a soft opening.
February 1, 2010 at 15:17
Judy, I meant about JaMeS's comment. What does he mean by that?
February 1, 2010 at 16:46
i dont know, i was just so excited by the soft opening, i think i meant that it was good to be me then
August 15, 2009 at 10:49
When Ii get back ill give a review of HRRR
August 15, 2009 at 13:43
I agree 100% with the review. Top Gun/Afterburn is my favorite inverted along with Fire Dragon at IOA. Carowinds and its visitors are very lucky to have it.
August 15, 2009 at 13:58
this is by far the my favorite inverted coaster. I visit carowinds many times and I love how afterburn has the shortest line in the park! It is by far the best ride at carowinds (so far!)
August 25, 2009 at 13:59
Afterburn was my top inverted coaster, until I rode Montu for the 1st time last summer. Although Afterburn is now my 2nd favorite invert, it's still one of the best coasters period; regardless of the kind. Carowinds has been my home park for most of my life, and Afterburn is one of the FEW rides there worth visiting for. With the new coaster coming next year, Carowinds might actually be getting the press and attention it's gone without for years.
October 16, 2009 at 21:17
But it does not have raptors helix of death.
October 17, 2009 at 07:22
Yes, but it is longer and a better ride overall.
October 24, 2009 at 06:20
Hey, it's me again. I have found a super video of Afterburn, maybe the best one on Youtube. If you want to take a look at it, here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M84RNSFDJsU
P.S. I decided to use this as my Afterburn video on my website.
October 24, 2009 at 06:50
Hey, CC. Like, what does the sentence "Your comment is awaiting moderation" mean when you sometimes post a comment?
Peace is far out, man!
October 24, 2009 at 08:16
GroovyDude, please post on topic. If you have a question about comments, please post them here: General Site & Web Updates. And please read the section called "Be a Good Commenter".
October 25, 2009 at 04:24
Thanks for the link that WAS a good video,
PS- CFC, you said you had a website, i was wondering if you could send me a link.
November 10, 2009 at 18:42
I think I posted it on one of the Intimidator articles, I can't remember which one. Look there, and you will probably find it.
January 13, 2010 at 13:32
In the Email thing theres a box that sayes "website" you can put the name of your website in the box and it will highlight your name in your posts, make biot a hyperlink to your site.
November 13, 2009 at 03:48
I know this isn't on the right area but there isn't a carowinds review so I was wondering, Someone said that KI had only developed 336 of its 700 acres. Does anyone know how much land carowinds owns and if it has already developed all its land?
February 4, 2010 at 18:05
Carowinds used to own 112 acres, but they added 10 more acres to make room for Intimidator, and yes, Carowinds has developed all its land. For such a small park, it's suprising to know that they have 50 rides. Cedar Point is over 3 times as big, but only has 50% more rides. For such a small park, Carowinds is pretty efficient with it's space.
November 13, 2009 at 09:25
CC, isn`t there a batwing clone at Cariwonds, and also, could you review the Hurler?
November 13, 2009 at 12:44
Yeah, there is one, Quil, near the end of the ride on Afterburn, after the Zero-G Roll.
PS – I looked, and my website address isn't there after all. I guess CC didn't let it pass through. The link is this: http://cedarfaircoasters.webs.com/
November 13, 2009 at 16:20
All comments with hyper links are held for approval because you never know what people might post. I don't mind you posting a link to your web site as long as it's relevant to the discussion.
I'll add both Batwing and Nighthawk to the review queue. Maybe I'll review them as part of my flying roller coasters week.
January 13, 2010 at 13:36
a lot of people said that it was better as Borg Assimilator, what do you think about it.
November 13, 2009 at 15:54
You're thinking of Nighthawk at Carowinds.
November 13, 2009 at 19:16
Oh, I was thinking of the batwing inversion. I've never heard of a coaster called Batwing.
PS – Thanks CC. I didn't know that piece of info. I'll try to limit my posts with hyper links from now on.