Filed under: SUVs
When a Hummer just won't cut it, think Force Protection
The svelte 4x4 pictured
above is Force Protection's Cougar, a "medium
mine-protected vehicle" that makes a Humvee look, um, delicate.
The massive vehicle is nearly
20 feet long and over 8 feet wide, and has a curb weight of 15 tons. Motivated by a 330 hp Caterpillar diesel, the
Cougar seats up to ten passengers, and everyone gets a four-point harness.
You just know that someone,
somewhere is planning a candy-apple-red customized Cougar with another five tons worth of subwoofer's for SEMA. Don't
say we didn't warn you.
(Thanks for the tip, Finished.Law.School!)
[Source: Force Protection]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
alexander 11:12AM (3/06/2006)
I love this monster vehicle. I wish the soldiers get this vehicle on the front line soon.
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max 11:17AM (3/06/2006)
This is fairly common over there as well, although if you're a merc Tahoes, Yukons and Avalanches rule the day.
http://www.defense-update.com/products/r/RG-31.htm
Seeing this on the Rubicon trail seems far more likely.
I think Blackwater started using these first, but they were fairly common on Victory during the summer of 2004.
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S1500 11:30AM (3/06/2006)
Please please PLEASE do not make a civilian version of this. I don't want an armada of soccer moms driving this (alone) and simultaneously talking on a cell phone, thinking she is "safe" with a 15-ton vehicle.
While the above statement might be a bit on the crazy side, look what happened with the Hummer.
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Kevin 11:31AM (3/06/2006)
Man, how small does your penis have to be if you need that to get you to the mall...
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flareak 11:33AM (3/06/2006)
330 hp for 30,000 lbs...
it's going nowhere.
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Mandla 11:35AM (3/06/2006)
Good old South African technology.
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Tony 11:38AM (3/06/2006)
5. 330 hp for 30,000 lbs...
it's going nowhere.
860 tq @ 1450 rpm says it is=)
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Clay 11:42AM (3/06/2006)
Flareak, I'm sure this beast has gobs of torque.
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Ford Mustang 11:53AM (3/06/2006)
The fact is that something like this, although very usefull isnt a true competitor to the hummer. This would be great for certain aspects of military travel but its size would limit it greatly. Besides that it probably gets about .00001 mile per gallon also making it less usable.
I'd hate to be stopped in front of this thing at a traffic light. God forbid you dont go right when the light turns green the driver will probably never notice he just ran you over....LOL
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S1500 12:45PM (3/06/2006)
Real-life Canyonero here, boys and girls. Give it a paint job and some bullhorns on the front.
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Bert 1:01PM (3/06/2006)
Great! Now I will have to get 30-inch wheels!
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Noah 1:47PM (3/06/2006)
Needs more chome
--Noah
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max 1:55PM (3/06/2006)
Guys, here's another interesting "ride" from the middle east. Underneath is a Ford 550, but the look is somesort of alien vehicle from a 1940's movie.
it's called the Rock.
http://graniteglobalservices.com/automotive/armored.htm
A few months ago the Army also started installing armored pods on the back of some up armored LMTVs-it's pretty cool, probably safer than an up-armored humvee.
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GCH 2:41PM (3/06/2006)
It looks like those used during Apartheid in South Africa or during the "bush war" in Rhodesia in the late 70's.
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Fabulo 3:01PM (3/06/2006)
I'd buy one if they made a hybrid. Recuperating the lost energy when you run over a Tahoe by mistake, that'll save some fuel!
Cool.
It seats 10, but do the seats fold flat?
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v8 3:37PM (3/06/2006)
#3- you forgot that the soccer mom driving one of these would be yacking on a cell phone in one hand and slurping a Starbucks latte with the other and driving with her elbow.
I saw a stupid baby boomer bitch reading a novel perched on the steering wheel while in rush hour on the I-5 last Friday. I was beside her for a minute or so and she'd glance up at the road every once in a while. How do these people make it to their 50s?
Also, that Cougar site is cool, but what's with the landmine demo video? Sure, a mine will tear the shit out of a rusted- out old Chevy pickup, but why didn't they show what a Cougar would do on top of a mine?
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Steve B. 5:45PM (3/06/2006)
"860 tq @ 1450 rpm says it is=)"
That's a meager amount of power. 237 horsepower at 1450, and power quickly dropping off afterwards. 330hp is at 2400 rpm... Torque is down to 722 at that point.
Torque is pretty worthless that far down, as it is not being multiplied by engine speed for much horsepower. Remember, a Toyota Prius, thanks to the characteristics of its hybrid drive, produces 295 lb.-ft of torque at a mere 1200 rpm.
Torque tells you less about an engines actual capabilities than it does about shift points. Torque is constantly adjusted in relation to speed using gear ratios; the actual power is not changed.
330 hp in a 30,000 lbs vehicle is a power:weight ratio of .011:1. That's the rough equivalent of a 35 hp lawnmower engine in a Chevy Impala.
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slowfiveoh 4:42AM (3/07/2006)
Wow. Another uneducated individual attempts to make literal sense of what he thinks he knows by displaying it to everyone here.
If you had any clue at all you'd understand the correlating relationships to horsepower and torque. Horsepower is a derivative of torque and is factually a simple measurement of torque over time. Those are the fundamentals.
Did you, at any point at all, every study diesel mechanics or diesel engine theory? I thought not.
30,000lbs of weight is certainly VERY feasible with the torque figures and its associated horsepower figure. The truck will move decently.
Figure in that most of the tractor trailers traversing the United States carry an approximate weight load of up to and typically right at 80,000lb's. The Cummins 350's, Caterpillar 3406 series, and Detroit Diesel all aim for torque peak rather than horsepower peak. The rapid rise of RPM in correspondance to its related torque means snapping drivetrain components. That = downtime, and fiscal involvement to get the vehicle up and running again.
Being that @ 80,000 lbs most of these rigs push anywhere from 1200 to 1500ft lbs of torque, and move adequately, you could see the extreme error in your assesment. 860+ lb ft for 30,000lbs is actually quite good. Its roughly the equivelant weight of say a freightliner FL70 (think 26ft boxvan) which actually has a weaker Cummins BT6 in most models (other engines are available).
For future reference, Torque means a LOT when it comes to power production, in FACT it is what horsepower it self is measured from. With a low RPM operation range, roughly 800-3200rpms in your typical industrial diesel, horsepower in fact will NEVER supercede torque thanks to the 5252 rule. In a diesel, torque is everything and hp USUALLY equals broken components. In a car that crosses the 5252rpm point, of course peak torque, AND horsepower are important. I hope you're a little wiser now. Let me know if you want to post further.
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LH 9:37AM (3/07/2006)
Why not just buy the real thing: http://www.patria.fi/modules/page/show_page.asp?id=0728A7223C864B0AB8985FC51A9A92E7&tabletarget=data_1&MENU_2_activeclicked=7561BC0B94CE4B45A27414F3B2B5DBC3&MENU_2_open=true&pid=CD4D13CFAE8C47318A3961CFF188055B&layout=2005_eng
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Antonio Zeroski 1:35PM (3/07/2006)
Ok People
1) The truck moves, TACOM has minimum requirements , it does not hold up traffic at a light.
2) A socccer mon would not be driving this unless she had a CDL.
3) the reason it is not shown taking the 15lb. blast the chevy was subjected to is the information is classified.
4) yes it is the 70's Rhodiesian design.
5) To date there have been no serious injuries to the personell using the cougar. Building them is another story.
6) one of these drove over the back of a H1 in Iraq, slight damage to the fender of the cougar, H1 was salvage.
I would tell you more bu the I would be Shot.
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