Tornado is a rare full-circuit Intamin inverted coaster at Sarkanniemi.
This is easily the best roller coaster at this Finnish park in my opinion
with its 5 inversions and unique layout. Tornado looks, feels, and rides significantly differently
than the far more common Vekoma or Bolliger and Mabillard inverted coasters found worldwide.
And that’s certainly not a bad thing. In fact, I wish there were more Intamin inverts out there.
In this video, I will be reviewing Tornado. Bolliger and Mabillard introduced the inverted
coaster in 1992 with Batman the Ride at Six Flags Great America.
The novel riding position and intense maneuvers gave riders the feeling of flight. The coaster was
a resounding success. And the company has gone on to install 33 of these coasters worldwide.
Vekoma saw the demand for inverted coasters, so they quickly unveiled their own version in
the suspended looping coaster or SLC. This cloned layout was rougher than the models offered by B&M,
but it was cheaper. Vekoma found a niche in the market,
selling 42 SLCs and they later adapted the riding position to other models such as the boomerang.
Intamin’s experienced with inverted coasters started with their collaboration on the European
Fair Circuit’s Eurostar, but their first individual foray into inverted coasters
occurred in 1998. Instead of starting with a conventional lift hill like their
counterparts at B&M and Vekoma, Intamin’s first inverted coasters had launches.
One was the one-of-a-kind Volcano the Blast Coaster at Kings Dominion and another was an
impulse coaster in Tokyo Dome City’s Linear Gale. In 1999, Intamin built their first full-circuit
inverted coaster with a traditional lift hill in Tornado at Parque de Atracciones de Madrid.
This ride had a layout and elements similar to a B&M invert. And then two years later in 2001,
Intamin built another inverted coaster named Tornado. This one going to Sarkanniemi.
Yet Intamin saw more success with their impulse coaster, selling 8 of those. They
wouldn’t sell another full circuit inverted coaster until DrageKongen in 2017. And that’s
surprising since the two Tornadoes were priced similarly to Vekoma SLCs and far smoother rides.
That just makes Sarkanniemi’s Tornado even more special.
Not only is it a relatively rare model, but it has a unique setting.
The coaster travels past a wooded midway, over some pathways, and underground. The ride’s
station is located underground. And the ride’s fourth inversion also takes place underground,
flipping directly over the load platform. It’s a really cool visual as you’re waiting to ride.
Although the ride itself doesn’t look too appealing. It has a rather bland white and
grey paint scheme. And that aforementioned station looks like a barren parking garage.
This is a coaster whose elements do the talking over the general aesthetics.
Tornado had one of the longest lines at Sarkanniemi when I visited. If the entire
indoor queue is filled, as it was for me, Tornado has roughly a 30 minute wait. And because Tornado
is located right next to the main entrance, the line will form immediately after park opening.
But the line does move at a consistent pace thanks to 2 train operations
and reasonably fast dispatches. Each train seats 24 riders with 2 across seating
similar to the Vekoma inverted coasters. If you’ve ridden Spain’s Tornado,
Volcano, or any of the Intamin impulse coasters, the trains are identical.
There are two downsides with these trains. One, they have hard over-the-shoulder restraints.
Fortunately, Tornado tracks smoothly so there is little to no headbanging.
So this isn’t much of an issue. Two, the restraints are extremely unaccommodating,
some of the least accommodating in the industry. A guest struggling to fit was the only thing
that would delay a dispatch and it was far more common on this ride than any other in Finland.
In terms of seat selection, I preferred the front row.
While the forces may have been a little better in the back, the unobstructed view up-front of
the ride’s near-misses was more important to me. Tornado begins by turning out of the station and
ascending an 82 foot or 25 meter tall lift hill. Off-ride, it’s a really neat visual as you see the
coaster sprouting out of the ground. Once at the top, Tornado has a short pre-drop to the right,
before continuing to bank to the right for the first drop. This drop completes
the 90 degree twist relatively quickly and then straightens out. And if you’re in the back row,
you get some laterals at the start of the drop and then a floaty feeling for the rest of the drop.
Tornado then traverses the first of 5 inversions in a vertical loop. The loop had some great
positive Gs into the element and solid positive Gs on the subsequent pullout. But the element
had a little extra kick in the back as they are pulled through the second half of the loop.
After a brief tunnel, Tornado navigates a cobra roll over the midway.
The entrance in and out of this element had some good positive Gs, but the flips themselves
weren’t as snappy as the cobra rolls found on the old school B&M inverts. The transition in
between the two inversions did offer a brief but surprising burst of positive Gs though.
The cobra roll is followed by a overbanked turn that threads the center of the vertical loop.
This is a really cool visual, but the turn itself is slow and relatively forceless. So
if you aren’t up front, this element is a dud. And if you’re up front, you then lay your eyes on
one of the most impressive near-misses of any coaster- the underground heartline roll above
the load platform. This element messes with your mind. The tunnel looks impossibly small
and really looks like you’ll lose your legs as you twist upside-down. And since the tunnel
has the same grey walls on each side of the inversion, you lose all sense of direction.
The element also delivers a copious amount of hangtime. The inversion looks fast off-ride,
but it feels much slower on-ride. It felt similar to the barrel rolls on Volcano
or the final inversion on Kings Island’s Banshee. This was easily the highlight of
the coaster between the epic visuals and hangtime. And it’s one of the best inversions in the world.
The second half unfortunately doesn’t have the same visuals of the first half, but the final
elements are still strong at least. Once back outside, Tornado navigates a 270 degree upward
helix that pulls some strong positive Gs. You’ll definitely feel the blood rushing to your legs.
And then Tornado juxtaposes that force with a second heartline roll taken even slower than the
prior one, which results in even more hangtime. Tornado then zips around one last turn,
delivering a delayed dose of positive Gs for those in the back, before diving
back underground and hitting the brakes. This ends the 2297 foot or 700 meter long coaster.
Tornado may not have the best sense of speed, but I do think the coaster has good pacing
since most elements deliver and the near-misses help compensate for the ride’s modest speed.
The ride has no mid-course brake run and the inversions all deliver either good positive
Gs or hangtime. There are only one or two turns that offer brief lulls in the action.
So what would I rate Tornado? I would give this rare Intamin invert an 8 out of 10.
Tornado does a lot of things well. I love this coaster’s smoothness, placement, and forces. All
5 inversions are great with the two heartline rolls in particular standing out. Intamin did
a much better job on Sarkanniemi’s Torando than the one at Parque de Attraciones de Madrid, as
Sarkanniemi’s is smoother and has a faster-paced layout. Tornado is easily the best ride at
Sarkanniemi and I rank it similarly to B&M’s mid-tier inverts. As I said earlier, Tornado feels
a lot different than B&M invert, but that isn’t a bad thing and gives the ride a unique feel.
So those are my thoughts on Tornado, the Intamin inverted coaster at Sarkanniemi.
Have you been on this coaster? What do you think about this ride’s placement or elements? I would
love to hear your thoughts about Tornado down in the comments. If you enjoyed this review, I’d
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lot more roller coaster and amusement park videos here at Canobie Coaster. Thanks for watching!