Ten Military Vehicles with Insanely Torquey Engines

Horsepower is all well and good, but torque is what you need to get the job done.

While a lot of armored fighting vehicles use tracks, the Stryker makes do with eight wheels instead. That gives it a relatively high top speed of 60 mph. Under the hood, it uses a Caterpillar C7 that makes 1028 lb.-ft. of torque.

The AAV, or Amphibious Assault Vehicle, is a landing vehicle that can transport troops pretty much anywhere. And while it's a relatively old design, recent upgrades have given it new life. That included the engine, which is now a Cummins VTA-525 that makes 1127 lb.-ft. of torque.

If you're building a vehicle that can take a blast from a land mine, there's no good way to also make it light. And if you want it to have room for eight troops, it's going to be even heavier. To compensate, the RG-33 has a Cummins 400 turbodiesel that makes 1200 lb.-ft. of torque.

Like the RG-33, the International MaxxPro is built to withstand blasts from landmines and other roadside explosives. But its MaxxForce D9.3I6 engine makes even more twist, maxing out at 1250 lb.-ft. of torque.

The Bradley is an armored fighting vehicle capable of both transporting troops and taking out tanks. But all that armor adds weight, which means it needs a lot of twist to get going. The Cummins VTA-903T does just that, providing 1423 lb.-ft. of torque.

The M60 is basically a tank that's been modified to carry and deploy a mobile bridge. That's ridiculous but in the best way possible. As you can imagine, it's powered by quite a powerful engine. Its General Dynamics AVDS-1790-2DR V12 turbodiesel makes 1575 lb.-ft. of torque.

While it may look like a tank at first glance, the M109 is actually a mobile artillery cannon. Since it can be moved under its own power, it doesn't have to be towed, but getting a 155-mm cannon from point A to point B requires a good bit of grunt. A Detroit Diesel 8V71T takes care of that, putting out 1738 lb.-ft. of torque.

Usually, earthmoving can be accomplished with a bulldozer. But if you're in a combat zone, a little more armor is important. That's were the M9 comes into play. And with an absurd 2362 lb.-ft. of torque available from its Cummins V903C, there isn't much that it can't move.

The M88A2 Hercules is basically an armored tow truck. Since it needs to be able to pull other armored vehicles, it's understandably large, heavy, and incredibly powerful. Its

Continental AVDS-1790-8CR makes a mind-boggling 2500 lb.-ft. of torque.

It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that a tank is heavy and needs a torquey engine to move itself along. But what may surprise you is just how much torque the M1 Abrams actually has. Its Honeywell AGT1500C turbine engine makes a truly insane 2750 lb.-ft. of torque.