Having owned many M38 and M38A1s over the years, along with one Mutt for over a decade, I can say that hands down the M38 was the best, closely followed by the A1s. The 5:38 gearing made it great for hill climbing and rock crawling. The reason why I would suggest the M38 as the best despite it's it's lack of the 12hp increase of the A1 was it's flat hood gave unbelievable visibility when navigating difficult terrain. As well, it's shorter wheelbase meant less likelihood of getting hung up on barriers.
The M151A2s best quality was it's relatively modern engine and a decent highway speed, but these were not cross country attributes. It's weaknesses were those dozen U joints, a marginal gearbox, and overly simplistic design of the rear suspension hangers. It was not geared to hill climb. Over hood visibility was good; similar to an M38.
The Iltis had great highway speed, and could push snow fairly well with it's capability to lock up the rear diff, but the low skidplate made sure you didn't go too far into the snow. In sand, even on level ground, they were pathetic. As to hill climbing, the only way you could do it was with extreme speed. Luckily, the rotor acted as a governor to prevent the engines from over revving once the vehicle became airborne. We actually had complaints from the RCRs that the engines would cut out when the trucks flew.
|