Jaguar Hits Performance Peak With XE SV Project 8

The most powerful and agile Jaguar road car ever to be released debuts in the U.K. and to ensure exclusivity, no more than 300 of the 200-mph (322-km/h), 600-hp XE SV Project 8 sedans will be built.

Jaguar Land Rover Special Vehicle Operations says the second Collector’s Edition by SVO – following the F-Type Project 7 of 2014 – is a hand-built 4-door sedan with supercar performance.

The car, which made its world debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, will be assembled at SVO’s new Technical Center in Coventry.

“SVO’s raison d’être is to produce halo vehicles that push the boundaries in terms of luxury, performance and all-terrain capability,” John Edwards, managing director-JLR Special Operations, says in a statement.

“Project 8 is a great example of what happens when enthusiastic designers, engineers and manufacturing specialists are given the opportunity to create an extreme-performance sports car without compromise.”

The sedan features the most highly tuned version of JLR’s 5.0L supercharged V-8 gasoline powertrain. The 600-hp power unit, with a titanium variable active exhaust, is complemented by Jaguar’s all-wheel-drive system and motorsport-derived aerodynamics to deliver a 200-mph top speed and 0-60 mph (97 km/h) in 3.3 seconds, making Project 8 the fastest-accelerating Jaguar yet.

Project 8 features a number of modifications to the XE’s lightweight aluminum body panels, including carbon-fiber bumper with enhanced cooling ducts, vented carbon fiber-hood, flared bodywork covering 20-in. forged aluminum alloy wheels, adjustable front splitter, flat underbody, rear carbon-fiber bumper, rear diffuser and adjustable rear aerodynamic wing.

It will be the lightest V-8 sedan in the Jaguar range.

Project 8 endows the XE’s double-wishbone front and Integral Link rear suspension with stiffer springs and manually adjustable, continuously variable dampers that lower ride height 0.6 in. (15 mm) for track use; debuts a new carbon ceramic braking system, an industry-first use of Formula 1-style silicon nitride ceramic wheel bearings on a road car; and incorporates a rear electronic active differential with oil cooler, a first for XE.

The 8-speed Quickshift transmission can be operated by aluminum paddle shifters behind the steering wheel or by a central Pistolshift lever, another first for XE.

Project 8 also is the first Jaguar to feature a dedicated track mode, which tailors driveline and stability control systems for circuit use, and sharpens both throttle and steering responses for ultimate precision and driver feedback.

The sedan will be available in two specifications at launch. The standard 4-seat model features Jaguar’s latest front performance seats with magnesium frames, plus a more heavily contoured rear squab to maximize support.

The 2-seat Track Pack includes lightweight front carbon-fiber racing seats with 4-point harnesses fixed to a harness-retention hoop in place of the rear seat.

All Project 8s will be built in left-hand-drive configuration only.

Prices for Project 8 start at £149,995 ($195,029) in the U.K., reflecting “the high-value engineering content and hand-built assembly process of this specialist car,” JLR says.