User blog comment:Bluegear93/M35 Mako vs. M-44 Hammerhead/@comment-5503561-20120816021023/@comment-5379655-20120820170637

It makes sense that the Hammerhead has less armor, and mass effect core sizes has nothing to do with it. The Mako can be heavier and carry more armor because it's in direct contact with the ground and it's not meant to be very fast. The Hammerhead on the other hand is a hovercraft and a fast one at that. In order to accomplish that, you need to cut back on weight, which means armor. The trade off is that less armor means you're faster and therefore less likely to get hit. If the Hammerhead had heavier armor it would be much less maneuverable which kind of defeats the purpose of a hovercraft.