Ah, the thread's dead, but here goes...
Now just a darn secoond there my fine German friend. The Panther and Tiger lines both used Christie suspensions (an American design that we shunned at the time, but which Russian designers loved), copied from Russian T-34 tanks.
The Panther and Tiger used the Henschel torsion bar interleaved suspension. It was heavier and took up much more room than a Christie suspension, and was not a copy of the Christie. It provided slightly superior cross-country mobility, but the advantage was never realized because both Panther and Tiger were underpowered for their weight. After the war, the Germans sensibly selected the US M46 Pershing chassis as the basis for their postwar tanks.
The Tiger 1 was developed between 1940 and 1941 and borrowed nothing from any Soviet tank. The Panther was developed as a replacement for the Panzer III and IV starting in '41, but saw a re-design with sloped armor as a result of combat experience with the T-34.
If I had to say which was the best all around tank of WWII I would have to go with the Panther V 88mm variant.
While the Jagdtpanther was not by the strictest definition an MBT, I agree with you. It was definately the best Panther variant. Now, had the Panther F with the 75/100mm gun been completed, that would have been something to beat!
"The Panther and Tiger used the Henschel torsion bar interleaved suspension. It was heavier and took up much more room than a Christie suspension, and was not a copy of the Christie."
The Christie was the first Torsion bar system, Henschel improved upon it. Captured T-34's were brought back to Germany an gone over by German tank designers for the purpose of study and design incorporation. Read Speer's diaries.
The T-34 was so respected that many captured T-34's were repainted with German colors and driven German tank crews. By the same token, Russians who were able to capture Panthers and Tigers were awarded medals, and the tanks turned over to crack Russian crews as a prestige item.
The radical departures in design that the Panther and Tigers took from the Mark III's and IV's owe much to the T-34. I understand the reluctance of any German to admit they copied anything (especially from Russians), but this point is not arguable. The words "copied" or "stolen" with regard to this issue may be objectionable and imprecise, but the "borrowing" of design elements did happen as I stated. The historical record, when you go deep enough into it, is clear on that.
That German engineers saw the benefits of these design elements, improved on them, and then created some of the most lethal tanks of the time is not an insult. It is, if anything, a tribute to their intelligence and foresight. Had the T-34 not come into being, follow on designs to the Mark IV would have been different from the Panther's and Tigers we know today.