An excerpt from the article:
Who would have thought a ride in a Mini could be so scary? As we stood in a long line to ride a Mini roller coaster in Cincinnati, ominous thunderstorm clouds and lightning rolled in overhead to help set the scene. The American Coaster Enthusiasts member next to us said, “If this was a regular day, they would’ve closed the park an hour ago.”
The park is Paramount’s Kings Island amusement park. It was closed that day – except for the new coaster ride, The Italian Job (based on Paramount’s 2003 remake of the 1969 movie that features, like the original, three Minis). The new ride was open only to media, park officials, the Cincy Mini dealer staff and clubs, a politician and many ACE members. The latter reminded us of SCCA members, hooked on g force and speed, and that’s how we became fast friends.
You can read the entire piece below:
[ The Cincinnati Job: Mini’s real ride-and-drive ] Autoweek
For those curious, this was the same event that I attended last May. You can read the related MotoringFile articles about the event below:
[ MINIUSA Autocross ] MotoringFile
[ The Italian Job Coaster Reviewed ] MotoringFile
<p>Sounds like my wife’s description of my driving.</p>
<p>” You’re going to fast, why do you have to go that fast in this turn, why do you brake so late……yada, yada, yada!”</p>
<p>I was on the Canadian version of the ride last week, at Canada’s Wonderland in Toronto, and was al ittle bit disappointed, especially at the short length of the ride. Or maybe it was because of the high-G acceleration at the start that made my MINI cap fly off! I hope they’ll send it back 🙁
Looks like exactly the same ride, and I was glad to get to it quickly at opening, as there were 1-hour line-ups all day after that.</p>