Well, on the top speed of the HMMWV I will say that I believe in the 65mph thing. Simply because if you took the HMMWV's power to weigh ratio and applied it to my Pontiac Sunfire (for example) it would have to do only 45 to 65hp in order to have the same hp per weight as a HMMWV. 65hp to be the equivalent of a light/non-armour 215hp Turbo one; and 45hp to be like a fully loaded armored 145hp one. That ain't a lot. I'm sure it can go faster, but you'd need a calendar to keep time.
The power to weight ratio does play a big part.... but it's the gearing more than anything......
even if you stripped it down so it was much lighter.... you would still be htitting redline shortly after the 65mph mark in top gear anyway.
They where not designed to be fast... they where designed to go dang near anywhere an be able to clim up steep ass hills. Also... you don't see "hopped up" versions of HMMWV's used in military service.... so that point is moot.
But what would I know...... I only prepped them for war on a daily basis...
To be fair... I do agree that this isn't the point of this thread so it doesn't really matter.... but I'm amazed of what people think they know.
Besides... it's not like ToBoGgAn and I need another thing to argue about anyway..... I was just stating what I know to be fact... thats all... I wasn't trying to argue.... I just happen to have worked on and drivin more of them than most of you have probably seen.
I'm not trying to be pissy.... but if someone told you the sky was green..... wouldn't you correct them by saying it's blue?.... if that helps anyone to see my point of view.
for your Blue Fleet, yes, USAF spreads the wealth when PURCHASING GP vehicles or equipement. (even down to the copy machines)
but the Vee was in a CONTRACT bid by the Army for a NEW DESIGN. A notable contestant against the Vee was Lamborghini's Cheetah, but the Army awarded AM General the contract in the '80s. Why? Because it was up against a Lambo; and it was cheaper.
Why does Lockheed build the F-16, but you don't see a Gulfstream/Learjet version of the same platform? Same principle.
if we had been driving the cheetah we would have thought we were in the AF
Weeble: Not to dispute what you were saying, but I seem to recall Gen. Norman Schwartzkof had a Hummer with a 350 with better gearing (for the road primarily) for Desert Storm/Desert Shield.
Granted, that's one truck, but... it was hopped up
Transeat In Exemplum: Let this stand as the example.
is not a 5ton if you thought that the cougar was a 5ton, because the 5ton doesn't have the V shape like the cougar. I have seen the 5ton with the mine rollers I don't how can they drive those out there. For me, I won't feel protected in those 5tons lol.
you are aware the avenger is a weapons system mounted on a HMMWV, right?
therefor it does not make a good replacement.
GAM (The Kilted One) wrote:Weeble: Not to dispute what you were saying, but I seem to recall Gen. Norman Schwartzkof had a Hummer with a 350 with better gearing (for the road primarily) for Desert Storm/Desert Shield.
Granted, that's one truck, but... it was hopped up
Point taken... but that wasn't an actual military issue humvee either (if I remember right... it was a modified cilvilain version)..... my point wasn't that they can't be hopped up (obviousley they can)... my point was that all hunvees used by the military are are pretty much the same minus any killing machines or armor they decide to mount to them.... so the top speed thing still applies.
You can buy civilain versons of the HMMWV (Orignial humvee or H1).. with gasonline engines that will do over 100mph off the show room floor from a dodge dealer.
im not going to argue with you weeble, but im an 88m and I have pics on my phone of the speedo in my humvee way past 60.... IDK maybe the speedos are off, but i figured no one would believe me so i had to take pics.... I took them on the way down to New Orleans for Hurricane Katrina relief
I read the posts on this thread, and while some had valid points, for the most part. Weeble is right. However, as a 63B stationed in Germany in the early 90's, the hummer was our #1 workload. I was in an HHC Brigade unit, and every overstuffed BDU in brigade had one, and a driver to go with it. These things are a royal pain in the ass to work on(at least back then...I'm sure nothing has changed), and since ours were seeing plenty of autobahn use, had a tendency to visit us on a regular basis. Engine replacement was not uncommon, (and I'm sure you've seen a million glow plugs swollen to the point that they won't come out, weeble ). It was not uncommon for our trucks to do over 65, however,it's not recommended...I don't know if they were geared differently for autobahn usage, or what, but they were capable of that and more, especially if you had a mechanic buddy that knew how to turn up the governor a wee bit
. This did however usually result in a heart transplant if the driver didn't use a little sense when driving. Even tho' capable of higher speeds, they are not geared to sustain them for long periods of time. At 65 MPH on the highway, they tend to be a handful to drive.
In response to the useful/useless debate.....
The HMMWV was designed to be a replacement for the jeep that the military had been using since WWII(maybe longer?). The key things focused on were.....
-- the military wanted to be rid of the need for gasoline(it was more volatile, and added the extra pain of needing a separate fuel truck in combat situatiions) They wanted to be able to have a scout sized vehicle that would run on JP8 when needed so that only one (universal) fuel would be needed in field/combat situations.
-- The new vehicle had to be sure footed...at the time, jungle barren mountainous terrain were what we were used to fighting on. The jeep excelled in this, due to it's size, but serious shortcomings for the same reason. The army originally touted that you couldn't get the Hummer stuck.....While difficult, yes....but definitely NOT impossible. All thismeant is they are a LOT harder to get UNSTUCK.
-- The last key that I'm sure of (I'm sure there were others)was weapons capabilities....every time they strapped a .50 cal on a jeep and fired to the side, they rolled it on it's side. the design of the HMMWV allows for a large variety of weapons systems to be used.
that being said, yes it is Still a useful vehicle, just unfortunately not desingned for desert/suburban warfare. It is designed for all terrain off road use, where a normal vehicle would founder in the mud. It was not designed to carry all the armor that is being upfitted on it these days, hence the slow slug that results.
they go much faster then 65 thats just were the speedo stops why were following a hmmwv that was doing 82mph and that was a uparomer no the less.
^ like he said above is absolutly correct.
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I'm a 63B too.
I like the HMMWV to drive, but it is a real bastard to work on. I'll say this much though, i feel a hell of alot safer in those things than a early 80's style Chevy CUCV.
I'm not gonna argue one way or another about it... all i'm gonna do is tell a little story and put up a few pics.
One of my very good friends was over in Iraq. I don't remember the exact story/circumstances but basically what it came down to is he was driving the lead vehicle in a convoy going through the desert in the middle of the night. While driving at speed he took a head on shot from a RPG(?) Heres a couple pictures form when they went back for the wreckage...
He WALKED away with very minor injuries.
eh, that'll buff out and some new CARC on there, good as new.
on a serious side though glad your friend is OK, i saw way too many of the other end of the spectrum while over there.
Damn... at least the armor did it's job...
I was in the Airforce so I was a 2T5FT
If you have a long streight road... yes you can get one up to about 65mph.... but you can't hold it there forever... anyhting over 55mph starts causing damage.
And yes... I have plenty of not so fond glow plug memories..... a lot of the time it was because someone thought it was a good idea to use ether to start one without unplugging the glow plug controller (20 below zereo was considered nice in the winter)
in not full of allot of knowledge but what i do know is that once the ied's starting coming out and the issue of armoring them arose they boosted production but there is only one place that does it and they are in indiana and from what i though i head they can only pump out 100 armored hmvs in a year so its not something they can just swap out every hmvs in a few months.
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