The Engine of the Leopard 1 Tank
Imagine the sound of a Leopard 1 tank in the forest. Most people who have served in the cavalry, or nearby, have heard it. The powerful 10-cylinder engine leaves no doubt that it is running. The sound is felt just as much in the feet and chest as in the ears. No engine enthusiast’s heart remains untouched by such an experience. Puffing turbo engines, high-tech VTEC sewing machines, and heavily tuned V8s must take a back seat for a moment. Not even the much larger and more powerful 12-cylinder V-engine in the Leopard 2 can compare to the soundscape of the Leopard 1 and its MTU MB 838 CaM 500, which, without large turbochargers or advanced exhaust damping, moves over 40 tons of armored steel almost anywhere. Off the top of my head, I can only think of one other engine that, under good conditions, can provide a sound experience close to it: GM’s two-stroke locomotive engine (GM 16/567C) with 16 cylinders, 1,775 hp, and a displacement of 148 liters! But that’s another story…
Latest Update: On Wednesday, August 18, 2004, after many years of work, we finally had the opportunity to buy an engine from a Leopard 1 tank. More about this under “Photos” and “Nothing beats cubic inches.”
Please welcome this tribute to a true gem of a diesel engine. Click on the links below and enjoy the pictures, audio recordings, and technical data.
- Background
- Technical Data
- Photos
- Audio and Video Clips
- Nothing beats cubic inches
Audio and Video Clips
On this page, I will post audio and video clips where the sound of the Leopard engine will be the main focus. Some other engines will also pass the selection process and find a place on this page. The video clips were taken with a handheld DV camera. No subwoofer, you say? Go out and buy one right away..! All recordings were made by Øyvind Aamodt.
In the fall of 2001, my brother and I visited Helgelandsmoen to participate in the test drive of a newly modified Bergepanzer. We took several film recordings, but the ones taken onboard did not turn out particularly well sound-wise. Track noise and other disturbances became too prominent. The recordings taken from the outside had a significantly better sound experience, although for some reason, the sound on several of the recordings became a bit choppy at the start. The vehicle commander, and in some recordings even the driver, is Captain Mikal Klæth from the Armed Forces Logistics Organization/Land Test & Development Division (FLO/LAND XV) at Helgelandsmoen.
Bergepanzer Goes for a Test Drive, Video Clip (WMV), 2.24 MBb
Bergepanser kommer tilbake fra prøvetur, videoklipp (WMV), 1,3 Mb
Bergepanser kommer ut av skogen, videoklipp (WMV), 763 Kb
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Tuesday, February 18, 2003, we were at the Romerike Technical Workshop (FLO/RTV) and drove the Leopard 2 tank. It was a cold day, and we had the choice between a tank with a regular turret and one with a driving school cabin. With the regular turret, you get the best and most realistic driving experience, but in the school tank, it’s nice and warm! Since I already had a bit of a cold and it was around -10°C outside, we chose the school tank. The engine sound was the most important part for our mission, but if I hadn’t had an exam the next week, we probably would have gone with the regular turret.
We even got to take control behind the levers ourselves for a bit. It was an incredible experience to steer a vehicle powered by a turbocharged V12 with 47.6 liters and 1,500 horsepower. The tank didn’t have snowshoes on, but it still managed well on the tank track. The vehicle commander was Åge Andersen from RTV.
Leopard 2 med kjøreskolekabin på Storhogget (WMV), 1,5 Mb
| Leopard 2 med kjøreskolekabin, skrått bakfra, Trandum 2003 | Leopard 2 med kjøreskolekabin, mer side enn front, Trandum 2003 |
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The Armed Forces Logistics Organization/Air (FLO/AIR) at Kjeller has its own internal fire department, including a fully equipped Mercedes 2636. On the way home from Trandum on February 18, 2003, we stopped by Kjeller to record this vehicle. Deputy commander Morten Bratli and his team were more than willing to demonstrate the Mercedes, which has an 18.3-liter V10 engine with 355 hp and all-wheel drive. The sound is absolutely beautiful as it works through the gears at full throttle. It is also equipped with a 6,000-liter water tank and 600 liters of foam. The engine-driven pump has a capacity of 5,000 liters per minute.
Mercedes 2636 på Kjeller (WMV) 2,17 Mb
| Mercedes 2636 forfra, Kjeller 2003 | Mercedes 2636 bakfra, Kjeller 2003 |
