What does it take 6WD/8WD to be successful?

[ajlapp]

what does it take to make a great 6 or 8 wheel tank drive?

Chain/Belt management
Unless you plan to go gear to gear, a la frc25....then you need to plan out how to properly tension your chains. The West Coast chassis and its derivatives all have dedicated chain tensioning designed in.

Force at the Carpet
Great turning requires the proper amount of force at the carpet. Drop center can effectively shorten your wheelbase and help your cause, but without enough force at the carpet you'll get poor turning. Do some quick calculations or use the JVN whitepaper to understand how wheel diameter and subtle gear ratio adjustments can lead to huge leaps in the force available for turning.

Suspension or Flex
Chassis flex or dedicated suspension setups may be the secret to amazing 6wd and 8wd chassis designs. 254 and 968 deploy lots of drop and small diameter large force generating wheels to get the job done...they are also careful CG managers. But it seems to me that the sheet metal bots and those who have special suspension features tucked inside also demonstrate excellent turning prowess. frc118 has deployed suspension in the last two seasons.....I've heard nothing but positive things.