Jaguar Will Never Build Another V8 Sedan Like This Again

The recent Jaguar rebrand has grabbed attention all around the world. As controversial as it has been, it makes sense since the British automaker is about to undergo major changes, with new cars completely unlike Jags that came before. That’s a pity because one of those cars was so good that it was described by many who drove it as a four-door Porsche 911 GT3.

We’re talking about the Jaguar XE SV Project 8, a car that was roughly 80% reengineered compared to the regular sedan it was based on. The result was a Nürburgring lap time of 7:21.23 back in 2017, a record for four-door sedans. Two years later and shod with new rubber, the Project 8 smashed its own record by 2.9 seconds. Now, one of the few ever made is up for grabs.

The Jaguar XE SV Project 8 Was Benchmarked Against The Best

Like several other Jaguar products at the time, the Project 8 was powered by a 5.0-liter supercharged V8. This delivered 592 horsepower and 516 lb-ft of torque to all four wheels, enabling a 0-60 mph time of just 3.3 seconds and a top speed of 200 mph. The automaker benchmarked the special edition against the BMW M4 GTS, but Jaguar needed to make far greater changes to the sedan that BMW did to its coupe. In fact, only the roof and door skins find themselves on the new body, with Jaguar employing heavy use of carbon fiber and aluminum throughout the car.

Add CarBuzz to your Google News feed.

Related

Why Is Unsprung Weight So Important?

Losing weight is always good, but it’s where that weight is lost that is arguably more important.

Other highlights included carefully refined aerodynamic strategies (including a flat underbody), twin-coil Eibach racing-spec springs, Bilstein dampers, carbon-ceramic brakes and new suspension knuckles that reduced unsprung weight, F1-derived silicon nitride ceramic wheel bearings, and a body 24 millimeters wider in front and a massive 73 mm wider at the rear.

In North America, the car was only available with four seats, the front two of which were magnesium-framed Performance seats, but overseas, a two-seat Track Pack model added a built-in roll cage. On a slightly less extreme level was the 15-unit Touring spec, which had a small spoiler instead of the massive wing seen here. This was limited to 186 mph, and total XE SV Project 8 production numbers were limited to 300 examples.

A V8 For Way Less Than Future Electric Jaguar Models

Future Jaguars will look completely different, they’ll be exclusively powered by electricity, and they certainly won’t be attempting any Nürburgring lap records. Despite all these potential drawbacks, they’ll also be a lot more expensive than the example shown in these images, which has attracted no more than $70,000 in bids on Bring A Trailer with 6 days remaining on the auction. Hopefully, it sells for a price that encourages the new owner to take it on the track regularly, but before you get too excited, that price could increase.

Related

Jaguar’s Upcoming Luxury GT Is A Sedan Pretending To Be A Coupe

Jaguar has released the first images of its six-figure luxury GT.

The auction closes just after Jaguar reveals its new design direction at Miami Art Week on Monday, and depending on the response to what is shown there, previewing a trio of six-figure EVs, older Jags with soulful engines and a serious focus on performance could become highly sought after for posterity.