Jaguar has taken the record for the fastest production saloon lap time around the Nürburgring with its latest Special Vehicle Operations creation.
The SVO XE SV Project 8 is based on the small executive saloon and lapped ‘the Green Hell’ in 7 minutes 21.23 seconds – 11 seconds faster than the previous record held by the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio.
The stripped-out Jag comes with a supercharged 5.0-litre V8 engine that produces 592bhp, no rear seats and a specially-developed body kit – which when put together means a top speed of 200mph and a 0-60mph of 3.3 seconds.
Also coming with an all-wheel drive system, carbon fibre bodywork and a full roll cage and extinguisher set-up, the Project 8 is faster round the Nordschliefe than the 2010 Porsche 911 Turbo S and Chevrolet’s 2011 Corvette Z06.
Engineered by Jaguar Land Rover’s Special Vehicle Operations, only 300 units will be built of the £149,995 model which will only come in left-hand drive.
SVO director Mark Stanton said: “The SVO design and engineering team’s mission was to create the most track-focused road-legal Jaguar in history – not only the fastest, but also the most agile.
“As a result, only the roof and front door skins of Project 8’s body are carried-over unaltered from XE and 75 per cent of its mechanical hardware is new. This astonishing Nürburgring Nordschleife record validates the success of such extensive changes.”
The outright saloon record is held by a specially-modified Subaru WRX STI, which set a lap time of 6 minutes 57.5 seconds.
