As the Jaguar XE SV Project 8 nears production, the engineering team has been busy fine-tuning and fettling the track-focused saloon. Legendary Jaguar racing drivers Andy Wallace and Davy Jones are the latest test drivers putting the 200mph car through its paces.
Joining the Special Vehicle Operations development team, the
winners of the 1988 Le Mans and 1990 Daytona 24 hour races both in Jaguars –
XJR-9 and XJR-12 respectively, took the 600PS supercharged 5.0-litre V8 XE
around the Goodwood Motor Circuit.
Andy said: “It keeps wanting you to push harder. It’s not
bothered by Goodwood’s undulations, it just hunkers down and feels totally at
ease, so you’re happy to get on the throttle earlier. It inspires confidence
straight away.
“You don’t just ‘luck’ something as good as this. Anybody
can build a fast car. But to build a fast car that feels this good – that is
quite an achievement.”
Davy said the XE’s braking and grip levels are incredible,
the automatic gear shifts are quick and precise while remaining completely
accessible to drive.
“I’m used to powerful racing cars, but this feels really
fast. The sheer acceleration didn’t feel all that different from a 700bhp
racing prototype – and that really surprised me. It’s certainly Jaguar’s best
track car I’ve driven since the sports prototype Jaguars of the 1980s and
1990s.”
Since its debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July
2017, SVO has been tweaking and adjusting the XE SV Project 8 with the ambition
of making it the fastest and most thrilling road legal saloon on the market.
With supercar-baiting power, this XE has lapped the
Nürburgring Nordschleife ten seconds quicker than the Alfa Romeo Guilia
Quadrifoglio. It’s time of 7mins 21.23sec was also quicker than some illustrious
vehicles including the Ferrari 488 GTB, Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4, Ferrari
Enzo and Porsche Carrera GT.
Mark Stanton, Special Vehicle Operations Director, says:
“Power delivery and gear shifts are the most visceral we have ever offered on a
Jaguar – every 1/100th of a second improvement in shift time adds up over a
complete lap of the Nürburgring.”
The SV Project 8’s credentials are linked to the vehicle’s
motor racing technology, including adjustable ride height, camber, front
splitter and rear wing, a flat underbody, an oil cooled differential, Formula
One-style ceramic wheel bearings and the option to shod the 20in forged alloy
wheels in track-focused Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres.
The limited-production, £149,995 track-focused XE only uses
the aluminium roof and door skins from a standard car, with Mark adding that
the mission with the Project 8 was to build a fast, fun, and engaging car that
encourages you to explore its performance.
“Rest assured, no stone has been left unturned in our
mission to make this the most rewarding Jaguar driver’s car ever,” he says.
Final tests for the XE SV Project 8 have been scheduled for
the Algarve, Motorland Aragon in Spain and Laguna Seca, USA before the 300
saloons are hand assembled at Special Vehicle Operations’
Technical Centre in June.
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