Jaguar has now revealed what its extraordinarily powerful XE SV Project 8 super saloon looks like undisguised. Pricing has also been confirmed for the Jaguar, which will have a limited production run of just 300 units, and it will start from £149,995.
After first revealing the XE SV Project 8 in disguised form last month, Jaguar has now shown off what the car will look like to customers, ahead of the super saloon’s public debut at the 2017 Goodwood Festival of Speed later this week.
Each of the 300 examples of the Project 8 that will be sold to customers will be hand-built by the Jaguar Land Rover Special Vehicle Operations (SVO), a division that specialises in turning cars into performance beasts. All models will also be left-hand drive only, even those sold in the UK.
The XE SV Project 8 is the most powerful Jaguar road car ever, thanks to its 5.0-litre supercharged V8 petrol engine. This unit is available in the F-TYPE SVR where it churns out 567bhp, but SVO have now managed to extract 592bhp for the Project 8.
As a result, the 0-62mph sprint time of the Project 8 is a mere 3.3 seconds and the top speed is 200mph. The Project 8 utilises a rear-biased all-wheel drive powertrain plus an eight-speed automatic gearbox.
As well as the powerful engine, the XE SV Project 8 also features numerous tweaks to its body to transform this saloon into one that wouldn’t look out of place setting fast lap times on a race track. Virtually all body panels have been replaced in favour of more aerodynamic parts, a rear spoiler and deep front splitter have also both been added and the headlights have been moved by 14mm to allow space for wider wheelarches.
Other highlights of the XE SV Project 8 include its Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres and its electronic active differential, which is a first for the X. It also comes with continuously variable dampers which can lower the car’s height by 15mm while on a race track.
Even with all the track-ready modifications though, the Project 8 is still luxurious within featuring a 10.2-inch touchscreen infotainment system with sat-nav plus a 4G WiFi hotspot.
If owners fancy it though, they can get a Track Pack which removes the rear seats and adds magnesium-framed bucket seats at the front with four-point harnesses. Choosing the Track Pack makes the car 12.2kg lighter.
