You might think that your Range Rover is a good off-roader because it's got gearing and transfer cases for days, but it hasn't got enough wheels. And in the world of offroading, more wheels is simply… better!
Mercedes realized this and put an extra pair on the G63 AMG, thus turning it into the 6x6. But even that has got absolutely nothing on an 8x8 amphibious armored personal carrier. Say hello to the BTR-82A, the vehicle that had all of western Europe worried in the 80s.
Weighing in at over 15 tons, this machine was designed to take 7 Soviet Army soldiers across the German border and offer them fire support via its 14.5mm cannon. Why more wheels? Well, to prevent a vehicle from sinking into the ground, you need more surface area to disperse the weight of the vehicle. More wheels equals more surface equals a better vehicle. Also, if one of the tires were to get damaged, there are plenty of extras to take up the load.
A top speed of 90 km/h doesn't impress you? How about the fact that it can swim! Can your Range Rover do that?
Anastasia Tregubova, our favorite Russian test driver recently got a chance to get behind the wheel of one of these beasts and you can tell she was impressed. And why shouldn't she, when she has the might of the Soviet era at her pretty fingertips.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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