Jaguar makes fastest sedan (again)
Project 8 breaks its own record on famous German racetrack. Next stop New Zealand, writes David Linklater.
Jaguar’s Special Vehicle Operations-developed XE SV Project 8 super-sedan will be on track in New Zealand next year.
For the time being, the company will have to be content with a new world record. The Project 8 has set the fastest Nurburgring Nordschleife lap time for a four-door production car: 7min 18.361sec.
This new, officially-verified time means the Project 8 has beaten . . . itself. The previous record for the 20.6km lap was 2.9 seconds slower, set by an earlier version of the same car in November 2017.
The Nurburgring is the magic track for carmakers and enthusiasts. Individual brands battle for bragging rights in their individual segments and many high-performance road cars are developed on the demanding German circuit, which is also open to the public.
Project 8’s previous four-door production sedan lap time of 7min 21.23sec was set on the so-far industry-recognised 20.6 kilometre course length (lap timing starts at the end of the Nordschleife start/ finish straight at T13, lap timing ends at the start/finish line at the beginning of the start/finish straight at T13).
From this year, the Nurburgring officially scrutineers, supervises, records, confirms and publishes lap record times it measures over a whole lap length of 20.832km (lap timing starts and ends at the start/finish line of the Nordschleife).
The new officially verified record times set on July 8, 2019 are: 20.6km lap, 7min 18.361sec, full-length 20.832km lap, 7min 23.164sec.
Returning in a productionspecification two-seat Track Pack version of Project 8 was development driver Vincent Radermecker.
The car’s height-adjustable twin-spring coil-over suspension was set in ‘‘track’’ ride height, with adjustable front splitter and carbon fibre rear aerodynamic wing positioned for maximum downforce and stability.
To maximise performance and steering precision, for the final record runs Project 8 was fitted with new (but still off-the-shelf) Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tyres.
The road-legal tyres use rubber compounds directly transferred from Michelin’s competition tyres.
Powered by the most highly tuned 441kW version of Jaguar’s 5.0-litre supercharged V8, the allwheel-drive Project 8 is capable of 0-100kmh in 3.7 seconds and a top speed of 320kmh.
Project 8 also features a fullyenclosed flat underbody for enhanced aerodynamics, which is key to its performance.
Production of the limitededition Project 8 will finish this year.
Jaguar NZ has a confirmed build slot for a single car, which will arrive in the country later this year. It will be used for display, promotional and track events next year.