Jaguar unleashes 591bhp XE SV 26 | 05 | 2017

JAGUAR HAS REVEALED its most powerful road-going car yet. Penned by Scot Ian Callum, the Jaguar XE SV Project 8 has been developed in conjunction with Jaguar Land Rover Special Vehicle Operations (SVO). (Related: 2017 Jaguar XF Sportbrake)

Planned as the company’s second collectors’ edition model, following the Jaguar F-Type Project 7 from 2014, the Project 8 has undertaken its debut test at the gruelling Nürburgring Nordschleife boasting a rather snazzy camouflage.

Powered by the same supercharged 5.0-litre V8 engine as find in the Project 7, the output has been increased to 591bhp in the XE SV, which is also all-wheel driven and is mated to a specially tuned version of its eight-speed ZF automatic gearbox.

Jaguar says “no more than 300” of the Project 8 cars will be hand built at SVO’s Technical Centre in Coventry (rather than alongside regular XEs in Solihull).

And while the company has yet to release official figures for its latest ‘supercar’, it’s safe to expect it will beat the 3.5sec 0-60mph time of Jaguar’s current most accelerative road car, the all-wheel drive F-Type SVR. If it achieves those figures, that puts on par with the like son the Porsche 911 GT3.

“The time is right for SVO to produce the most extreme performance road car in the history of Jaguar,” John Edwards, Managing Director of Jaguar Land Rover Special Operations said.

“The SVO team is possessed by the spirit of performance and committed to creating the most thrilling driving experience imaginable.

“Our clients worldwide were thrilled by the F-Type Project 7. The new XE SV Project 8 takes aerodynamics and performance engineering to another level: it is conceived for enthusiasts and the most discerning collectors.

“The price for such an extreme performance sports car available in strictly limited numbers will reflect that.”

Related: Jaguar serves a Scottish ace

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Jim McGill