I recently received a great email from a fellow Type 4 enthusiast from the UK. He had the opportunity to drive his modified 412 on a road racing course. I asked him if he could write about this unique experience and share it with my visitors. The pictures and text below are from him. Thanks Neal.

Not many Volkswagen enthusiasts appreciate the 411 or 412, although it is a different story when it comes to their engines. If you're one of the few to have ever driven a Type 4 you'll know just how good the most sophisticated and well-engineered air cooled VW handles, although the performance of the brakes isn't quite so hot.

Recently I put my lightly modified 1972 two door 412 LE sedan to the ultimate test - a track day at the historic Goodwood Motor Circuit in West Sussex, England (I'm a member of the Goodwood Road Racing Club - check out www.goodwood.co.uk). The 1700cc fuel injected car is basically stock apart from lowered stiffer front springs, a front strut brace, 17" Porsche Cup One wheels and a custom turbo muffler exhaust. I built it as an individual street car, with the aim of simply adding to the existing attributes rather than wholesale change. The car has won its class at several major shows, including Bug Jam and the VolksWorld show, but it is also my daily driver.

On the day, both track and weather conditions were perfect - bright sunshine with a light breeze. Having never been on any raceway other than a drag strip, I was really excited at having the chance to go on a 'real' track. The fact that my session was in the afternoon simply added to the excitement. I spent the morning watching other cars and drivers on the circuit and I also took the opportunity to walk around the perimeter of the track to try and have a better idea of how to take the corners.

When the moment finally came I joined nine other cars, including a Ferrari 355, Porsche 911, Caterham 7, Mini Cooper, TVR, and a Jaguar E-type. We left the pit lane one at a time in 20 second intervals. After a couple of familiarisation laps with guidance from a qualified race instructor in the passenger seat, it was time to put my foot down.

I was really impressed by the 412's road holding and cornering. I only put it into fourth gear on Goodwood's long Lavant straight where I was doing just over 100mph - some of the time I was up to 80mph in third! Surprisingly the rear didn't step out, although if it had been a wet day things might have been different. The grip of the wide low profile tyres on the 17" alloys coupled with the benefits of the lowered front suspension and strut brace really made a vast difference to improve the cars manners and balance when driving it hard. The steering was light compared to a front engined car but I didn't experience much understeer - I only had this problem on the Lavant corner, and this was due to me entering it far too quickly on the wrong line. Even the 911 owning instructor was surprised at the 412's performance! It was very hard to stick to the speed limit on the way home.

My advice, if you ever get the chance of a track day - do it! Its an unforgettable experience that'll put a very wide smile on your face. My other advice, buy a Type 4!

Neal Anderson, London UK.
speckyvwfreak@yahoo.com