It's interesting to have come from the beginning of import drag racing and to then have watched how it has grown. We have come a long way and now there are many pros and cons when considering where the sport is headed. Next to the Pro class, I love watching the unibody Quick class because it relates closest to the street cars-at least it used to. What was once a true unibody class is now a class comprised of hybrids that are half unibody and half chassis car. Nevertheless, I still enjoy watching them and talking to the drivers because it represents technology at its finest: A car that is normally considered a grocery getter with a platform that has been specifically designed to simply cruise is finely tuned and turned into a full-blown straight-line car.
The evolution of the Quick class has morphed enough that it's created the next class of tube chassis FWDs. It seems lately many racers aren't spending enough time in the Quick class to learn the basics and instead, they are jumping straight into the tube chassis FWD class. We always knew this class was going to be a big hit but I've always expected more people to start in the unibody class to learn for a little bit, then make the move up. Are we evolving too fast or do racers just want to feel the eight-second rush quicker than learning what a nine-second run feels like?
If you ask me, you need to learn to walk before you can run, and when it comes to racing, I prefer a different approach. I want to learn what makes a nine-second car dip into the eights by playing with the stock chassis before jumping into a low eight-second car and not knowing what to expect. While the e.t. difference in terms of world records may only be a difference of two tenths, the characteristics that make up the difference are a world apart. With more people wanting to jump into the tube chassis class, the danger of not knowing what to expect gets higher. From tires, shocks, transmissions and chassis characteristics, the two classes are a world apart. While the e.t. difference between the two classes is a 7.96 [tube chassis] versus an 8.18 [unibody], it seems that there are differences in the overall vehicle buildup. Let's not forget, the two e.t.s stated above are world record numbers and not the normal running field. A lot of what goes on in the rest of the field is still a battle that has two to three tenths in differences in the e.t.
Now for the flipside! When it comes to vehicle safety, I would much rather drive a tube chassis FWD specifically designed to go straight as opposed to a unibody car that was designed to pick up groceries. This opens up a whole new can of worms when it comes to a racer's decision to chose a class. To start with, you have to deal with the pride of sticking to a unibody to prove you don't need a tube chassis car. Now, I've stated in my column before that one of the biggest differences between a unibody and a chassis FWD is tire size and weight, and to this day, I still believe that a unibody could be at a level playing field given the same conditions. On the other side, you have the guy that wants to jump straight into a chassis car to bypass the hassle of servicing a unibody car in drag race trim. If there is one thing you can be sure about with a chassis car, it's that physically working on the vehicle is much easier, since you aren't dealing with body components that are normally an obstruction on a race car.
Going with the popular north-south engine and tranny configuration also has its advantages. To start with, most of the transaxles used are racing spec, allowing the use of various gear ratios. This setup also allows you to make the tracking narrow to fit the body. The pros and cons of a unibody class car versus a chassis FWD are endless, but despite the arguments, I still believe you need to learn in a unibody rather than just jump into a chassis car. Not only will this help the driver to understand the pitfalls of handling one of these vehicles, it will also get him or her ready for the challenges when jumping into a chassis car.