Jaguar XE SV Project 8 production begins at the firm's SVO division

The Jaguar XE SV Project 8 is billed as the most powerful, agile and extreme performance Jaguar road car ever made.

Production begins

Now that all the development work of the limited-edition model has been concluded, Jaguar has announced that assembly will begin in June.

The saloon is available either as a four-seater or in lightweight two-seat Track Pack configuration, which also boosts torsional rigidity by 27 percent over the four-seat version.

Only 300 of the Jaguar XE SV Project 8 will be produced. Each of the LHD-only models will be hand-built by Jaguar’s Special Vehicles Operations. Incidentally, this is the second car to be produced by the in-house department, the first was Project 7. That earlier car was based on the F-Type.

You can view part of the build process by clicking this video link.

Power and grip

Jaguar XE SV Project 8 packs a 5,0-litre supercharged V8 that develops 441 kW. Power is fed to an all-wheel drive system that features a rear electronic active differential with oil cooler. Jaguar claims a top speed of 322 km/h (200 mph) and a 0-100 km/h acceleration time of just 3,7 seconds.

As is expected of any high-performance machine launched these days, Project 8 set a new four-door production car record around the Nürburgring Nordschleife in Germany last year. Its best lap time was 7 min 21,23 sec.

Fancy a lap around the Nurburgring in a Jaguar, then click here to find out more.

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Special bits

A number of special bits and pieces make the Project 8 the athlete that it is. Among them are a carbon-fibre bumper with enhanced cooling ducts, vented carbon fibre bonnet, flared wheelarches covering 20-inch forged aluminium alloy wheels, adjustable front splitter, flat underbody, rear carbon fibre bumper with integrated diffuser, and an adjustable rear aerodynamic wing.

Project 8 also debuts a new Carbon Ceramic Braking system. Project 8’s brakes feature 400 mm two-piece front discs with six-piston aluminium calipers and 396 mm two-piece rear discs. These are house inside 20-inch forged aluminium alloy wheels wrapped with Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres as standard.

Mark Stanton, Special Vehicle Operations Director,says:

“With Project 8 we set out to deliver a fast, fun and engaging car that encourages you to explore its performance. The power delivery and gear shifts of Project 8 are the most visceral we have ever delivered on a Jaguar. Rest assured, no stone has been left unturned in our mission to make this the most rewarding Jaguar driver’s car ever.”