Only 300 globally, and none for us. Boo.
Jaguar intends to make quite an entrance at this years’ Goodwood Festival of Speed, choosing event as the best place to debut the most powerful vehicle to ever bear the Coventry cat, the XE SV Project 8. Packing a 5.0-litre supercharged V8 engine, this once-domesticated housecat now produces a stratospheric 441kW of power and 700Nm of torque. In something the size of a BMW 3-Series.
Jaguar’s Special Vehicles Operation (SVO) managing director John Edwards said, “SVO’s raison d’être is to produce halo vehicles that push the boundaries in luxury, performance, and all-terrain capability. 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. Project 8 will be assembled by hand in the new SVO Technical Centre, and we’re confident that our enthusiastic and demanding clients will love driving Project 8 as much as we do.”
Shoehorning an engine like that into a compact family saloon means that the XE can now rocket from nought to 100km/h in an unbelievable 3.7-seconds, before topping out at 322km/h, making it supercar quick (and leaving behind competitors like the BMW M3 and Alfa Romeo Giulia QV in the dust). Putting all this power down to all-four wheels is a retuned eight-speed ‘Quickshift’ automatic transmission, which can shift non-sequentially (like going from 5th to 3rd) in as little as 200ms.
Only 300 left-hand drive models will roll out of Jaguar’s Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) facility, fitted with a multitude of refinements made to maximise the potency of the XE SV. Carbon fibre and aluminium body panels are utilised to minimise weight, while manually-adjustable ride height and carbon ceramic brakes, along with F1-rooted silicone nitride cream wheel bearings, carbon-fibre aerodynamic bobs and a ‘Track’ driving mode give the XE the sort of agility and raw performance that’s expected of what SVO director Mark Stanton calls “a four-door supercar.”
The XE SV’s Jekyll/Hyde character is underlined with things that seemingly appeal to opposing extremes. There’s a titanium active exhaust system and electronic rear diff, as well as a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, 10.2-inch TouchPro infotainment system, and a 380W Meridian sound system. Other things include gloss-finished carbon fibre interior trim, Alcantara trimming on the dashboard, door cards and steering wheel, paddle shifters in aluminium, and performance seats in the front with a magnesium frame.
Further emphasising the track-focused nature of the XE SV are things like the standard 20-inch alloys (wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres) and optional ‘Track Pack’ which throw out the rear seats, replaces the fronts with carbon-fibre racing buckets, throws in four-point harnesses and fits a fire-extinguisher system. But this is optional; As standard, the XE SV gets black leather/suede combination seats, with bespoke ‘Project 8’ markings on all four pews. The Track Pack also sees fitment of a Harness Retention Hoop at the rear, a gloss-black roof, and twin-stripe Project 8 decals.
Prices for the XE SV Project 8 start at a whisker under GBP150,000 (or about $252,800) in the UK, with order books open now. It will only be available in select markets worldwide, which unfortunately does not include Australia. Guess we’ll have to make do with HSV Commodores, then.
For more information on Jaguar, check out our Showroom.
