Full speed. Full capacity.
Munich, June 18th - Munich-based roller coaster manufacturer Maurer Rides is extending its Spike family with two new products: Spike Train and Spike Tandem. Both bring the interactive, software-defined Spike ride feel to the hourly capacity that large parks expect from a headline attraction. That makes Spike an option for exactly those projects where throughput used to be the deciding factor - with no compromise on dynamics, interaction or staging.
Spike Train - the motorbike coaster, reinvented
Spike Train takes the familiar motorcycle riding position and rethinks it. Riders sit as if on a motorcycle - but this time in vehicles that can be coupled into a train. The result is the hourly capacity of a classic large coaster, combined with the dynamics and interactivity Spike stands for.
With Software-Defined Dynamics, the ride profile is programmable rather than fixed; through interactive control, guests actively shape what happens. This brings the motorcycle riding feel to the scale of a major headline attraction - versatile, programmable and expandable at any time via update.
Spike Tandem - the immersion coaster, software-defined
Spike Tandem is the immersion coaster of the Spike family. The tandem arrangement brings more riders per train onto the track, and with it the hourly capacity a headline attraction needs. But what sets it apart lies in the experience: Spike Tandem combines the immersion of a dark ride with the accelerations and speeds of a roller coaster.
This is made possible by the principle of vehicle intelligence: the drive and the ride logic sit in the vehicle, not in the track. The entire ride profile - speeds, stops, backward sections, effects - is fully programmable via Software-Defined Dynamics and changeable by update. And all of this without any additional hardware in the track: friction-wheel drives or brake fins are not required, because every vehicle brings its own drive and braking force through the rack.
A shared foundation: proven Spike technology
As different as the two products are, their basis is identical: the proven Spike rack-and-pinion drive with 100 percent traction, acceleration at any point on the track, energy recovery during braking and a redundant drive layout. Both vehicles are part of the modular Spike platform - the same technology base that Maurer Rides will present in full this autumn. For parks that means: new capacity on a foundation that proves itself every day across ten installations worldwide.
“Tandem and Train bring the interactive Spike experience to the capacity level large parks need for a headline attraction - with no compromise on the ride feel.”
Jörg Beutler, General Manager, Maurer Rides GmbH
Availability and outlook
Spike Train and Spike Tandem are available now for project enquiries. Interested parties receive detailed product information directly from Maurer Rides. The full positioning of both products within the modular Spike platform will follow with its presentation this autumn - when Maurer Rides shows how track, drive, passenger carriers, controls, multimedia, interaction and service work together as one continuous system.
About Maurer Rides
Maurer Rides GmbH, headquartered in the Munich area, Germany, is a leading global developer and manufacturer of roller coasters and innovative attractions for the entertainment and mobility industries. With inventions such as the Spike® drive, the company sets standards in ride dynamics, interactivity and tailor-made customer solutions. With ten Spike installations in operation and under construction worldwide, the Spike platform is proven many times over in daily operation.