Ok from a very wiki point of view (checked the resources they have given, they seem to be accurate to me).
The performance tests of arjun tank most of the aspects are protected from public view even from the right to information act under the national security section so any Indian giving these out in public really can be in trouble until the reports were already available from the concerned agencies(army, drdo, HV avadhi), as for the news reports- A reporter cannot name his/her sources as they will face disciplinary action, and until statement comes out from a army officer who was part of the team analyzing the tank, with name and rank, there is no way these reports can be taken as reliable.
Arjun tank
58.5 tonnes over 10.638 m(l), 3.864 m(w), 2.32 m(h), Kanchan (gold) composite 'honey comb' design NERA (Non-explosive and non-Energetic Reactive Armor, performance test are classified, Laser warning system and smoke launchers for counter measures. Armament, Lahat anti-tank missile HEAT, APFSDS, HESH Rounds, and a 120 mm rifled tank gun which has fired 10,000 test rounds which improves accuracy (hence the name Arjun, a mythological character who was very accurate with a bow) MTU 838 Ka 501 diesel 1400 hp (1040 kW) giving 24 hp/tonne and a hydropneumatic suspensions which can do 450 km on 1610 l (under ideal conditions) this engine has gone through 70,000 kms of testing and if this is true it must have been fine tuned by now. A home grown battlefield management system (a very important component these days).
T 90 tank
46.5 tonnes over 9.53 m(l), 3.78 m(w), 2.22 m(h), Kontakt-5 explosive reactive armor on its hull and turret Shtora-1 countermeasures suite, Integrated Fire Control System, armor-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot (APFSDS), high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT-FS), high explosive fragmentation (HE-FRAG), Fragmentation-FS, and 9M119M Reflex anti-tank guided missile, from a 125 mm smoothbore gun, 12-cyl. Diesel 1,000 hp (750 kW) giving 22 hp/tonne with a torsion bar suspension.
the two tanks seem in the same class from this data with Shtora-1 countermeasures suite and LAHAT being two advantages,
and a trench crossing of 2.43 m is not poor by any standards
if you need to operate in places where you need 3-4m Trench Crossing then you probably need a
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_VIII_(tank)
nfloorl:
now the question why is India buying T90 tanks, well this is the first tank India has developed so developmental period was more than expected and production time is expected to be thirty tanks per year, with the Army requesting fifty per year the T-90 was selected because it is a direct development of the T-72 which India already employs, simplifying training and maintenance, changes are required in the army's logistics establishment to incorporate Arjun MBT, including new rail cars- trucks and both tanks are available in the same price bracket with t 90s at the lower range .
Indian army after Exercise Ashwamedh decided to get the tanks, the technological transfer from DRDO to Heavy Vehicle Factory in Avadi also took time.
As for the whole Vijayanta and Arjun projects. The real value of the Arjun project was setting up heavy tank building industry in India, and to have a research platform in place to provide the nation, the reason behind this is the 3000-5000+ tank strength which is required by the Indian army provides the platform for a tank industry to prosper with in India. All this investment cannot be justified if only 400-800 were required.
By the time Arjun Mk.2 will be required, through all the mistakes made in the Arjun project a research platform and a production platform for the enormous requirements of the Indian army will already be available.
below are some links containing information about the arjun tank
http://www.rediff.com/news/2005/jan/17spec1.htm
http://www.ipcs.org/IPCS-Special-Report-23.pdf