Vehicle acceleration

[nikolas93TS]

I am collecting any available acceleration value, primarily for tanks, but also for any other vehicle (es. M113, BTRs etc.). It is essential to provide the source, and to take care of variants (where possible) as there might be a significant variation in weight, transmissions etc.

We will be using the constant acceleration formula, so we can have a basis for the calculation. In this formula, "t" represents time, "v0" represents initial velocity and "v1" represents final velocity. Change in velocity is divided by the time in order to calculate the acceleration in units of velocity per time.

a = (v1 - v0) / t

For tanks it is common to list 0 to 32 km/h (or 20 miles per hour), and 0 to 100km/h for faster vehicles.

Leopard 2 Main Battle Tank 1979–98 by Michael Jerchel for example gives 6 seconds for Leopard 2A4 as time necessary to reach 32km/h. Hence the acceleration will be:

> a = (32 km/h - 0 km/h) / 6 sec

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> 5.33 km/h 
        sec
 > 5.33 km  
        (h x sec)

That means that on average, the velocity increases by 5.33 kilometers per hour for every second that passes. Note that when writing the units in the equation, "kilometers per hour, per second" is simplified to "km / (h x sec)."

Now we need to convert that to m/s^s as used by game. Hence:

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5.33 km (1000 m/km)
       h (3,600 sec/h) x sec

Which gives us the final value of 1,48 m/s^2 instead of generic 2 m/s^2 as currently used for all units.

[nikolas93TS]

I have an issue. I gathered 0-60 km/h acceleration for BTR-60 and BRDM-2 from respectively Muromteplovoz zavod and Techimpex Ltd. modernization prospects. Time values are listed as 83 seconds and 60 seconds.

Such long time intervals give constant acceleration value of meager 0,2 and 0,27 m/s^2. Now, there is this Youtube video showing BRDM-2 allegedly accelerating from 0 to 100 km/h, and it indeed seem to require more than minute to do so. However, such video is anything but scientific.

Since I am not either an automotive engineer nor physicist, can somebody chime in and say me if it is even possible to compare different speed/time intervals like I did? Can constant acceleration formula be even used, or is acceleration gear/speed dependent in practical terms?

[nikolas93TS]