[colt527]

I would have to say that 6 wheel drive systems are much better for rookie to intermediately skilled teams for many reasons. The first being that 6 wheel drive systems are much easier to design and build. For a efficient 6 wheel drive system, you don't need any complex tools. All 3 six wheel drive robots were built on a low budget, with only a band saw and drills. You don't need complex custom made mounting brackets displayed in Tom Bottiglieri's picture that look like it was made with a CNC Milling machine. The design of a good six wheel drive system is a very open-ended one. You can easily design a simple 6 wheel drive system on your first try that may weight a considerable amount or have other draw backs but over the years you will figure out ways to cut weight and increase efficiency.

Treads can probably give better traction in pushing situations and although I have no experience with them, there are probably many other pros to treads.

So, I guess it depends on the contest it self and the experience/tools/budget of the team and neither are superior to the other.