When Alton Towers unveiled Oblivion in 1998, the world’s first vertical-drop “dive machine” was a sensation. Just two years later, the second one ever built rose on a Taiwanese hillside: Diving Machine G5 at Janfusun Fancyworld in Yunlin County. Built by Swiss masters Bolliger & Mabillard and named for the five g’s riders endure at the base of its near-vertical plunge, G5 remains one of Asia’s most distinctive coasters.
Key Stats
| Type | Bolliger & Mabillard Dive Coaster (steel) |
| Opened | March 29, 2000 |
| Height | 55 m (179 ft) |
| Drop | 55 m (180 ft) |
| Drop angle | 87.5 degrees |
| Top speed | 110 km/h (68 mph) |
| Track length | 381 m (1,250 ft) |
| Inversions | 0 |
| Max g-force | 5 g |
| Designer | Werner Stengel |
The World’s Second Dive Coaster
Diving Machine G5 (飛天潛艇G5) is a near mirror image of Oblivion — same B&M Dive Coaster DNA, same held-drop theatrics — with one clever twist. Where Alton Towers dug an expensive underground tunnel to swallow Oblivion’s drop, Janfusun Fancyworld simply built G5 down the side of a steep hill, achieving the same stomach-dropping depth while saving the cost of excavation. The drop bottoms out in the ride’s “Black Hole Tunnel” before sweeping back into daylight.
Ride Experience
Trains turn right out of the station and climb a 45-degree chain lift to 179 feet. Another right turn lines them up with the moment the ride is famous for: the hold. Dangling at the edge of an 87.5-degree drop — steep enough that it would have made waves on our steepest coaster drops list in its day — the train hangs for three full seconds before release. It then dives 55 meters under a bridge and into the tunnel, where riders soak up the full 5 g that give the coaster its name, before an overbanked right turn bleeds speed into the brake run.
G5 at Janfusun Today
G5 is one of three roller coasters at Janfusun Fancyworld alongside the Ku Ku Coaster and the intense Togo looper Insane Speed, and it is the first coaster guests meet inside the entrance, in the park’s Sky Plaza section. Its 5 g peak keeps it in the conversation with the highest g-force coasters in the world — remarkable for a ride with zero inversions and barely a quarter-mile of track.
FAQ
Why is it called Diving Machine G5?
“Diving Machine” was B&M’s early name for the Dive Coaster model, and “G5” refers to the five g’s of force riders experience pulling out of the drop into the tunnel.
How steep is the drop on Diving Machine G5?
The 55-meter (180-foot) drop is angled at 87.5 degrees — a hair off vertical — and the train is held at the brink for three seconds before it dives.
Is G5 a copy of Oblivion?
Nearly — it’s a close mirror image of the Alton Towers original and the second dive coaster ever built. The key difference: G5’s drop plunges down a hillside into a surface tunnel instead of into an underground pit.
Photo: Roller Coaster Philosophy / Jeremy Thompson via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)