Baron 1898 vs Shambhala

Vintage is the reversed stat — the older ride wins. Every number here is the same one printed on the card; see /methodology for how Build Cost and Throughput are sourced.

The verdict

Shambhala takes it 5–1, and the 1 Baron 1898 does win is the whole of its case.

Baron 1898 is a steel Dive Coaster coaster at Efteling, NL, built by Bolliger & Mabillard. Shambhala is a steel Hyper Coaster coaster at PortAventura Park, ES, built by Bolliger & Mabillard.

They come from the same drawing office: Bolliger & Mabillard. That makes the gaps below a question of brief and budget rather than engineering house style.

Both are steel-track, so nothing here is the usual steel-versus-wood argument in disguise.

They are near-contemporaries — 2012 and 2015 — so they were competing for the same riders when they opened.

Stat by stat

• Height goes to Shambhala at 249 ft against 98 ft — more than double.
• Speed goes to Shambhala at 83 mph against 56 mph — a long way clear.
• Baron 1898 inverts 2 times against nothing at all from Shambhala — the widest kind of gap there is on this stat.
• Throughput goes to Shambhala at 1,680 rph against 1,000 rph — nearly double.
• Build Cost goes to Shambhala at 32 $m against 20 $m — nearly double.
• Vintage is reversed, so Shambhala's 2012 takes it from Baron 1898's 2015 — 3 years in it.