CAT OUT OF HELL
The 592bhp XE SV Project 8 is the most powerful road-going Jaguar ever, all wrapped up in a four-door saloon body. Let the fun begin…
THERE ARE MANY REASONS why it’s possible to get excited by the Jaguar XE SV Project 8 – there are 592 of them lurking under the carbonfibre bonnet, for starters, but the bits that seem to be getting Special Vehicle Operation’s head of vehicle dynamics Dave Pook most animated are the engine mounts. Buried deep in the engine bay, these unique pieces of billet metal are virtually impossible to see, yet Pook reveals they have a small but crucial effect on the way the car drives: ‘With the standard mounts there was enough movement in the engine and transmission unit [all 395kg of it] to have a small effect on the way the car steered. With these additions we got a subtle, but crucial, improvement in response.’ For a more mainstream model a cost analysis would have suggested the gains were not big enough to justify the financial outlay of bespoke components, but for the Project 8 only the best would do. Essentially, this car is a showcase for what SVO’S engineers can do when let loose to create the fastest-lapping Jaguar ever – a car that has already smashed the Nürburgring lap record for a production saloon, with a time of 7min 21.2sec.
Everywhere you look there’s evidence of this singleminded approach. Only the roof and door skins are carried over from the standard model, with carbon used for the front wings, bumpers, bonnet and boot. The front and rear tracks are increased by 24mm and 73mm respectively, and the headlamps have been edged forward 14mm to make room in the arches for the 20-inch wheels and Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s (the only tyre option). That big spoiler on stilts isn’t for show, either, combining with the front splitter and rear diffuser to generate 122kg of downforce at 186mph.
Under the skin, the Project 8 uses the basic suspension of the standard XE, but upgrades include Eibach racing springs, billet suspension knuckles, stiffer bushes, and ball joints for the upper control arms at the rear. The anti-roll bars have also been recalibrated, as have the adaptive dampers and electric power steering. Go for the Track Pack option (£10,000) and you can manually lower the ride height by 15mm for circuit work, plus you get a roll-cage in place of the rear seats, a strengthening panel that increases torsional rigidity by 27 per cent and a pair of lightweight race seats. This little lot saves 12.2kg over the standard Project 8’s claimed, and not inconsiderable, 1757kg kerb weight.
Part of that weight is excused by the fitment – for the first time in an XE – of Jaguar’s ageing V8. The supercharged 5-litre unit gets a modified induction system and titanium exhaust and produces 592bhp with 516lb ft of torque. The ZF eight-speed auto, meanwhile, gives quicker shifts (200 milliseconds, should you need to know) and the electronically controlled all-wheeldrive transmission gets heavily revised mapping for its electronic brain and an oil cooler for the rear e-diff. Oh, and then there’s the unique carbon-ceramic brake discs (400mm front, 396mm rear), which are clamped by six-pot and single-pot Brembo calipers respectively.
Clearly a lot of effort has gone into the Project 8, but has it been worth it? We’re up bright and early at the Portimão circuit in Portugal, where we have a few hours, both on the track and the surrounding roads, to try to get under this XE’S heavily modified skin. However, there are some concerned looks on the faces of SVO’S movers and shakers this morning, because the forecast sunshine has failed to materialise. Instead, there are dark clouds and persistent rain – not ideal conditions for the car’s fancy French rubber…
We start off on the road in a four-seat version, which from inside feels very much like a standard XE – only the brilliantly supportive high-backed seats, Alcantaratrimmed wheel and F-type-style trigger gear selector give the game away. Still, you sit low, and the driving position is spot on, plus prodding the starter button quickly dispels any idea that this is a ‘normal’ Jaguar saloon. The V8 churns over for a fraction of a second before erupting into life with a bellowing crackle and settling to a burbling idle.
Pull the gear selector into D, squeeze the throttle and the Project 8 moves off with surprising docility. The next shock is just how well this freakish-looking XE is coping with what are some fairly terrible roads that suffer from a mix of potholes and subsidence.