The Jaguar XE SV Project 8 has set a new lap record at the Nurburgring for a production-intended rear-drive vehicle, lapping in 7min21.23secs.
THE JAGUAR XE SV PROJECT 8 has driven around the Nürburgring Nordschleife in a record-setting 7min21.23secs, nearly a full 11 seconds faster than the time set by the Alfa Romeo Guiia QV. Only 300 hand-built XE SV Project 8 vehicles will be built and in left-hand drive only.
Mark Stanton, SVO Director, said: “The SVO design and engineering team’s mission was to create the most track-focused road-legal Jaguar in history – not only the fastest, but also the most agile. As a result, only the roof and front door skins of Project 8’s body are carried-over unaltered from XE and 75 per cent of its mechanical hardware is new. This astonishing Nürburgring Nordschleife record validates the success of such extensive changes.”
John Edwards, Jaguar Land Rover Special Operations Managing Director, added: “SVO exists to push the boundaries of performance, luxury and all-terrain capability. The hand-assembled XE SV Project 8 takes that principle to the limit, extracting supercar-beating performance from Jaguar’s most compact four-door sedan. The Nürburgring Nordschleife record underlines our commitment to deliver the most extreme Jaguar ever to Project 8 clients, who will soon experience this sensational sedan for themselves.”
While the time was good, that was the most unsmooth lap I’ve seen. The car was a real handful and seemed to barely have enough grip. I thought it would accelerate harder above 150mph, but struggled to get to 178mph on the last very long straight. Did not inspire confidence.