Full Throttle at Six Flags Magic Mountain doesn’t ease you in — it fires you out of the station and up a 160-foot vertical loop before you’ve had time to grab the restraint. If you’ve ridden it, or watched the trains rocket backward through the tunnel from the queue, the question that follows is always the same: exactly how fast is this thing?
Here’s the direct answer, plus a full breakdown of every launch, how Full Throttle’s speed compares to the rest of Magic Mountain’s lineup, and why its top-hat-over-a-loop design is still one of a kind more than a decade after it opened.
Quick Answer
Full Throttle reaches a top speed of 70 mph (110 km/h), hit during its very first launch — the one that fires the train out of the station and immediately into the 160-foot vertical loop. The coaster uses three linear synchronous motor (LSM) launches in total — one forward, one backward, one forward — to move the train along 2,200 feet of track.
How Fast Does Full Throttle Go?
Full Throttle’s top speed is 70 mph, reached the moment the train leaves the station on its first launch — before it ever reaches the ride’s signature 160-foot vertical loop. That speed comes entirely from LSM (linear synchronous motor) technology — magnetic linear motors lining the track that accelerate the train without a traditional chain lift or drop.
The 70 mph launch is the biggest of three separate LSM runs that make up the ride. After the station launch sends the train straight into the vertical loop and top-hat combo, the train dives into a tunnel and comes to a stop. From there it’s launched backward out of the tunnel and partway up a dive loop, then, once it loses momentum, launched forward again out of the tunnel and into a high-G turn. Neither of these later launches is published as reaching the 70 mph top speed — that number belongs to the initial launch alone. Each launch adds speed with zero hill required — a hallmark of Premier Rides’ Sky Rocket III launch system.
Is Full Throttle the Fastest Ride at Magic Mountain?
No — despite the name, Full Throttle isn’t the fastest ride in the park. Goliath, Magic Mountain’s giant hypercoaster, reaches 85 mph on its 255-foot first drop, and X2 tops out at 76 mph. Both beat Full Throttle’s 70 mph top speed.
What Full Throttle held, at its June 2013 debut, was a different title: world’s tallest and fastest looping roller coaster, thanks to combining that 70 mph launch speed with the then-record 160-foot loop. So if you’re asking which Magic Mountain coaster launches you to speed the quickest rather than which one is fastest overall, Full Throttle’s 0-to-70-mph LSM launch out of the station is still one of the most abrupt accelerations in the park.
The Ride Experience
Full Throttle launches riders out of the station along a straightaway, building to 70 mph before hurling them straight into the massive 160-foot vertical loop. After cresting the top-hat element perched above the loop, the train dives into an underground tunnel and comes to a stop, then reverses — launched backward partway up a dive loop before returning forward through the tunnel for a final launch into a high-G turn.
The entire sequence lasts about 90 seconds, packing in a relentless series of forces and direction changes. With a G-force rating of 4.0 and a minimum height requirement of 54 inches, Full Throttle is firmly in the ‘thrill-only’ category. Its placement in Six Flags Plaza at the front of the park makes it one of the first coasters guests encounter, and its silhouette — dominated by that enormous loop — serves as a constant visual reminder of what awaits.
Full Throttle Stats at a Glance
Park: Six Flags Magic Mountain, Valencia, California. Manufacturer: Premier Rides. Model: Sky Rocket III. Opened: June 22, 2013. Height: 164 ft (50 m). Top Speed: 70 mph (110 km/h). Length: 2,200 ft (670 m). Inversions: 2. Launches: 3 (two forward, one backward). G-Force: 4.0. Minimum Height: 54 inches. Ride Duration: approximately 90 seconds.
Records and Legacy
When Full Throttle opened in 2013, its 160-foot vertical loop immediately claimed the world record for tallest vertical loop, a title it held until 2016, when Flash at Lewa Adventure in Xianyang, China, surpassed it. Its top-hat-over-a-loop layout, however, remains unmatched — Full Throttle is still the only coaster with track on both the bottom and the top of the same vertical loop.
Despite losing the height record, Full Throttle remains a standout example of Premier Rides’ Sky Rocket III design, celebrated for its unusual multi-directional launch sequence and structural ingenuity. It added yet another record-chasing attraction to Six Flags Magic Mountain, a park already known for hosting more roller coasters than any other theme park in the world. More than a decade after its debut, Full Throttle’s combination of raw launch speed, landmark loop height, and backward-launch finale has kept it a fan favorite.
full throttle speed FAQs
How fast does Full Throttle go?
Full Throttle reaches a top speed of 70 mph (110 km/h), hit during its very first LSM launch, which fires the train out of the station and straight into the 160-foot vertical loop.
What is Full Throttle’s launch speed?
Full Throttle uses three separate linear synchronous motor (LSM) launches — one forward, one backward, and one forward — with the initial station launch pushing the train to its 70 mph top speed.
Is Full Throttle the fastest ride at Six Flags Magic Mountain?
No. Goliath (85 mph) and X2 (76 mph) both reach higher top speeds at Magic Mountain. Full Throttle’s 70 mph is still among the park’s most forceful launches, but it isn’t the outright fastest ride.
Where is Full Throttle located?
Full Throttle is located at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California, in the Six Flags Plaza area near the park’s main entrance.
What record did Full Throttle set when it opened?
When Full Throttle opened in June 2013, its 160-foot vertical loop was the tallest vertical loop on any roller coaster in the world. That height record was surpassed in 2016 by Flash at Lewa Adventure in China, though Full Throttle’s top-and-bottom loop track layout remains unique.
How many launches does Full Throttle have?
Full Throttle has three LSM launches total: an initial forward launch out of the station, a backward launch through the tunnel, and a final forward launch back out of the tunnel.
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