Jaguar last year came out with a version of its XE with 592 horsepower and starting price of $188,495.
Sure that’s steep for a small sport sedan, even one with 592 horses under the hood, but the car, designated an XE SV Project 8, is the fastest four-door production car around the Nürburgring—by a significant margin.
Jaguar clocked a 7:21.23 lap time in 2017, which beat the previous record of 7:32 set by Alfa Romeo’s Giulia Quadrifoglio the year before. Now Jaguar thinks the XE SV Project 8 can go even faster.
The team at Jaguar Land Rover’s SVO division have been further fine-tuning the XE SV Project 8 ahead of the start of production in the coming weeks. According to the man in charge of the car’s dynamics, David Pook, the biggest changes have been to the software management systems, namely to improve performance, feel, responsiveness and refinement.
The springs have also been made stiffer and so have the engine mounts. The suspension arm bushes have changed and the brakes have been refined for the exact pedal feel and performance SVO wanted.
Oh, and its definitely faster, better handling and more responsive than when it set its Nürburgring record, Pook confirmed.
The powertrain is still a 5.0-liter supercharged V-8 with 592 hp as well as 516 pound-feet of torque. Drive is to all four wheels via a beefed-up eight-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel-drive system. Jaguar quotes a 0-60 mph time of 3.4 seconds and a top speed of 200 mph.
Other performance upgrades include adjustable ride height, adjustable camber, an adjustable front splitter and rear wing, a flat underbody, a differential oil cooler, carbon-ceramic brakes, Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires on forged 20-inch wheels, and ceramic wheel bearings similar to those used in motorsports. The car also features numerous carbon fiber body panels. In fact, only the roof and door skins are shared with the standard XE.
Only 300 examples will be built for worldwide sale and Jaguar has confirmed that a few build slots remain. In other words, if you were looking to park the fastest sedan on the planet in your garage, now’s your chance. In North America, the car will come with four seats. In other markets, Jaguar will make available a Track Pack that swaps the front seats for carbon fiber racing buckets and swaps the rear seats for a metal panel to support harnesses and improve the car’s torsional rigidity by 27 percent.
