My best guess is yes. I base this guess not on the axle, but the fact that f/g/f cars don't hook up that well, so you'll never be able to apply a huge amount of torque to the rear tires.

That's still no reason not to have a healty engine. When my 400 was fresh, I couldn't do much more than barely crack the throttle off of the line. Once you get it rolling just a tad, however, then you can really dump the coal to it.