Jaguar XE turns hardcore
Special track-honed XE SV Project 8 will pack a 592bhp V8, tuned suspension, bespoke bodywork and all-wheel drive; supercar-aping performance is promised
Jaguar is on the verge of revealing its most powerful road-going car yet — a 592bhp limited-run XE saloon. Called the XE SV Project 8, it has been developed by the brand’s Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) division as its second collectors’ edition model, following the Jaguar F-type Project 7 from 2014.
Like the F-type Project 7, the XE SV will be hand-built at SVO’S Technical Centre in Coventry, rather than alongside regular XES in Solihull. It makes use of the same supercharged 5.0-litre V8 engine, but power has been ramped up 592bhp for the XE SV Project 8 – 25bhp more than F-type Project 7.
The XE SV Project 8 also drives all four of its wheels, rather than being rear-driven like the F-type Project 7, and it uses a specially tuned version of the eight-speed ZF automatic gearbox. Jaguar has yet to release official figures but it claims the XE SV Project 8 is its most extreme model yet and will offer performance to rival many supercars.
That claim suggests it will beat the 3.5sec 0-60mph time of Jaguar’s fastestaccelerating road car so far, the all-wheel-drive F-type SVR. That would edge the XE SV Project 8 into the realms of hardcore machinery like the Porsche 911 GT3 and ahead of the BMW M4 GTS.
The XE SV Project 8 is currently undergoing testing and has been developed at the Nürburgring Nordschleife. Jaguar has not confirmed the specifications of the car’s chassis set-up, but the modifications applied to the F-type Project 7 suggest SVO’S engineers will have almost certainly fitted firmer suspension and a faster steering rack to their new machine. They will also have lowered the car to improve high-speed composure and give quicker responses. The hardcore XE sits on lightweight wheels set at a wider track.
Shrouding its beefed-up underpinnings is a more aggressive exterior. The XE SV Project 8 has bespoke bodywork dominated up front by larger intakes and a spoiler on the bumper. At the back, it sports two pairs of exhaust tailpipes and the bootlid is adorned with a fixed rear wing, which generates downforce.
There’s no clear indication so far of what modifications SVO has made to the cabin, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see significant weight-saving measures employed inside the new hot saloon.
Jaguar is tight-lipped about when the car will officially go on sale, but it’s expected to make its public debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in June, where it is also likely to be driven up the hill. When the XE SV Project 8 eventually makes production, it’ll do so as a limited-run model, with just 300 units planned globally (50 more than the F-type Project 7), in left-hand-drive only.
This exclusivity, and the fact that the car is hand-built, will send prices soaring well above those of the regular XE range. The quickest standardproduction XE, the XE S, starts from £48,045, so expect the XE SV Project 8 to command more than double that price.
Jaguar claims the XE SV Project 8 is its most extreme model yet