Powerful Project 8 pushes the envelope for street-legal sleds
We like the way Jaguar’s Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) does business. The SVO gang made headlines a while ago for bringing us the amazing, 575-horsepower F-Type Project 7 and now they’ve applied that same amount of insanity to an unassuming XE sedan.
The Jaguar XE SV Project 8 is long on syllables and short on excuses. It’s a no-holds-barred track weapon with a licence plate and a rabid, snarling V-8. At the core is a 5.0-litre supercharged V-8 with 592 hp and 516 pound-feet of torque.
The boosted engine trails the Dodge Charger Hellcat by 115 hp, but the Jaguar weighs a full 320 kilograms less than the porky Hellcat. That’s because the Project 8 was meant to do more than just go fast in a straight line. It also sounds like an absolute monster.
A full race-spec diet was invoked for the car; the front bumper, fenders and splitter, plus the hood, side skirts, rear bumper and diffuser are all made of lightweight carbon fibre. Front-seat occupants ride in magnesium-framed performance seats with special stitching. In some European markets, owners can specify that the rear seats be deleted for weight savings, but the Project 8 is sold as a four-seater only in North America.
The hardcore sedan features a litany of aerodynamic aids to help it go around a track faster. The hood features cooling ducts, it has a completely flat underbody, an adjustable rear wing and voluptuous fender flares to accommodate wide 305-section tires in the rear and 265-section tires at the front. Those tires are stopped by massive carbon-ceramic brakes.
The Jaguar XE Project 8 will start at $192,000 in the U.S. It will be sold in Canada, though availability and pricing information are not yet available.