The History of Drifting and The Future of Formula Drift

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“Controversial Chassis”

The rules in Formula Drift state that a car must be of “Rear Wheel Drive or All Wheel Drive origin powering only the rear wheels.”  However, it also states that its origin must be in “Europe, North America, or Asia,” and in 2008, the RS-R team with Ken Gushi took advantage of those rules and built the first Scion tC to compete in Formula Drift.  You see, the Scion tC is based on the Toyota Avensis chassis, which is sold as an optional AWD vehicle in Europe.  Because of that, the tC continues to carry over many parts that allow for a RWD conversion.

The chassis everyone loves to hate, the Scion tC.  Tanner Foust in the Papadakis Racing Scion tC.  Should converted FWD chassis be allowed in drifting?  The combination of allowing an FF car to be converted to FR and the fact that the car had a NASCAR Toyota V8 was too much for many traditional drift fans and the car was hated by many.

This, however, did not do much to satisfy the hardcore fans who claimed that the tC, sold only in the US and as a front wheel drive, two-door car shouldn’t be eligible and cried foul for a little while, then died down after the RS-R car did not perform to expectations.  Then, in 2009, Papadakis Racing and Tanner Foust entered Formula Drift in a tC after competing in a Nissan 350Z.

While initially, this went with little fan fare, the announcement by the team that they would utilize a TRD NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Specification V8 began the uproar of the hardcore fans. Despite switching it to fuel injection and coil-on-plug, the push-rod V8 was cried foul by the hardcore once again and an even bigger fuss was made because of the modifications required to make the car work.

Even though his chassis is also converted to RWD, Ken Gushi’s team has escaped much of the Scorn from fans and scrutiny from fellow competitors.  Perhaps this is because he has stuck with a turbo 4?

From enlarging the firewall to different rear hubs, the hardcore did not like it one bit and when it was proven successful, they had a hissy fit.  The noise of the TRD V8 droned them out and Tanner Foust took two second place championship finishes in 2009 and 2010.  Then, at the end of the 2010 season, it was announced that Tanner and the V8 TRD-powered tC would not compete for 2011. Instead, Fredric Aasbo took the reins of the Papadakis Racing 2011 Scion tC and is powered by Toyota’s 2AR-FE turbocharged four cylinder all-aluminum engine.  Will 2011 finally be a championship year of the “Cheater Chassis” tC?  So far, no, but with five more rounds, anything can still happen and with Aasbo in 7th place, the Norwegian driver will have to pull out all the stops to do so.

The Papadakis Racing Need For Speed Scion tC.  This is a second generation tC chassis.