Holy off-road excess, Batman.

[unixronin]

I'd seen photos of the Jeep Hurricane concept vehicle/technology demonstrator before.  Check out what it can actually do.  Two 5.7 liter Hemi V8s, an independent driveshaft for each wheel, cylinder groups and whole engines switched in and out on the fly according to power demand, fully independent four-wheel steering, the ability to crab sideways or spin in place in its own length, remote-reservoir struts, what looks like F1-style inboard disc brakes, carbon-fiber body, 14" of ground clearance, 20" of suspension travel....  this thing is incredible.

Just imagine what the military could do with one of these things equipped with, say, a 25mm Bushmaster cannon, a 30mm chain gun, or a rack of Javelins.

Comments

[ilcylic.livejournal.com]

I'd buy one of those, if they could keep the price down to $30k or so.

-Ogre

[ilcylic.livejournal.com]

Hrmmmmm. I wonder if I could build one of those...

-Ogre

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Probably, for about what it cost DaimlerChrysler to build theirs .... that's a hell of a complex drivetrain/suspension system.

[ilcylic.livejournal.com]

I meant more just "twin engine four wheel drive four wheel steer". Not so complex. I mean, I'd have to build my own transmission, but that's not beyond the pale.

-Ogre

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

Booyah. Lust, lust. What I want to know is how they control the triple-mode steering....

[rbos.livejournal.com]

Military use... mm. There's quality vs. quantity and effectiveness to consider. If for a third of the price you could get something 90% as good, you could have three times the equipment for the same price. And honestly simple (cheap) and robust beats out high-capability and fragile any day of the week. Consider the AK47.

It's definitely got a lot of car geek cred but I wouldn't want to supply an army with them.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Oh, sure. But when has Uncle Sam ever bought the cheap, no-frills alternative when there was one almost as good available at twenty times the price?

[ilcylic.livejournal.com]

Certainly not when they went HMMWV.

-Ogre

[likefinewine.livejournal.com]

So how long before some rich Soccer Mom comes tooling along in one of these? Like Humvees with ladies at the wheel. :-( The concept of ... If I can afford it, I can drive it! In town even! :-(