Description
The production vehicles would differ slightly from the third prototype: they had more riveted, instead of bolted, plates and used the Renault 447 engine.
The AMR 35 is somewhat larger than the AMR 33, being 3.84 metres long, 1.76 metres wide and 1.88 metres tall. It weighs, fully loaded, 6.5 metric tonnes (six tonnes unloaded). The vertical armour plates have a thickness of thirteen millimetres, the sloped plates are nine millimetres thick and the top and bottom plates six millimetres.
Its general configuration has been changed in that the engine was moved to the back. Originally it had been intended to give the driver a more central position to improve his view to the right but eventually he remained at the left side of the hull, the right side being occupied by a large ventilation grill. The turret, where the second crew member, the commander/gunner, is located, is also placed left of centre. Two types of turret are being used: the Modèle réglementaire AVIS-1 fitted with the 7,5 mm Modèle 1931 Type C machine-gun and an ammunition stock of 2250 rounds and the AVIS-2 with a 13,2 mm machine-gun. The 7.5 mm version also has a reserve machine-gun that can be placed on a small mount on top of the turret for AA use. If a radio is present it is the ER 29, operated by the commander.
The suspension uses four much more robust road wheels. The two in the middle are paired into a central bogie, sprung by a horizontal rubber cylinder block, that again consists of five smaller rubber cylinders separated by steel discs. These cylinders also serve as shock dampers, avoiding the problems caused by the oil dampers used with the AMR 33. The wheels in the front and back are independently sprung, again by a rubber cylinder block, but now consisting of four smaller cylinders. The sprocket is in the front. The track is 22 centimetres wide and is supported by four top rollers. The wading capacity is sixty centimetres, the trench crossing-capacity 1,7 metres and a vertical obstacle of fifty centimetres or slope of 50% can be climbed.
The Renault 447 22 CV four-cylinder 5881 cc petrol engine renders, according to the official French Army manual, a maximum speed of 55 km/h, making it the fastest French tank of its day. Renault brochures claimed the higher speed of 60 km/h and many sources mention the latter number. It has a peak output of 82 hp at 2200 r/m. The average road speed is 40 km/h. The brakes are of the single dry plate type and a Cleveland differential is used. There are four forward gears and one in reverse. There is a Zénith carburator and a Scintilla Vertex magneto, making it possible to start electrically even at temperatures below zero. A fuel tank of 130 litres renders a range of two hundred kilometres.
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