Well, Columbia has brought back the original Piranha. They modified the original symmetric Piranha core by raising the RG and decreasing the differential. The new Piranha has a NON HK-22 base vibrant orange Hyper Flex cover, the same coverstock used on the remake Pulse. Box surface is 1500 Siaair. I drilled one with my favorite pin down layout, 60 x 5 x 70. I shot the video on fresh"ish" THS at box surface.
To my eye and memory, the motion on the new Piranha is NOT the same as the original one. My recollection of the original Piranha was that it was very clean and quicker in its down lane response. This remake Piranha is different in that it is much slower in response and offers a very early and smooth ball motion. That would be consistent with stated manufacturer intent. I tried it during a group practice session on fresh THS. I definitely noticed if I tried, when the pattern was fresher, to go away with the ball too much, the ball would not carry the corners. I did find however, if I straightened out launch angles and backed my hand out, the Piranha rolled very predictably and went through the pins very hard. After about 20 games, I had to get way in and open up. Even with the burn spot and trying to use as much rotation as I could, the Piranha still showed a slower response and was still able to trip a 10 pin. In the end, I believe this ball will be very useful just not in the way I would have expected. I believe this ball will be in play on fresh patterns with higher volumes on a variety of distances. I also believe that the Piranha will excel with straighter launch angles and keeping the ball more in front of the bowler. I believe a variety of bowler styles will find success with the Piranha. I am looking forward to drilling a 2nd one with a quicker response layout and also experimenting with surface alterations.
The Columbia Piranha is now readily available. While it is indeed sad to see the Columbia brand being retired, you still have a chance to throw the last release from Columbia. See your local pro shop for more information.