[Peace will be here soon]

The HMT is a seven ton, four wheel cross country vehicle with a capacity for 3.2 tons. It has a 180 horsepower engine

180 HP? That has got to be wrong. A seven ton vehicle ( with a 3.2 ton capacity )with a 180 horsepower engine.

[tortoise]

180 HP? That has got to be wrong.

Not at all. They need torque to move that weight, not horsepower. This is normal for diesel engines, modest horsepower and mountains of torque; it is why diesels tow so well. It may be 180HP, but it also is probably around 500 ft-lbs of torque.

[Dead Dog]

LOTS OF FING TORQUE!

[Tailback]

It's a diesel engine. For example, most 18 wheelers in the US have a 80,000 lb GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating) and run anywhere from 250-400 horsepower. With Diesel engines the horsepower rating doesn't mean as much as torque.

[ttkciar]

> 180 HP? That has got to be wrong.

It's about right. A 20:1 horsepower:tonnage ratio has been pretty standard for tanks and other AFV's for the past couple of decades.

Unloaded, 180 hp / 7 tonnes = 25.7 hp/t
Loaded up, 180 hp / 10.2 tonnes = 17.7 hp/t

-- TTK