Jaguar Project 7 makes Australian debut

The car that got everyone in a lather at the Goodwood 2014 Festival Of Speed, the Jaguar F-TYPE Project 7, has made its Australian debut.

Just 10 of the 250 cars produced by Jaguar Land Rover’s Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) skunkworks were earmarked for Australia and all have already been sold to customers who have stumped up $339,610 for the most exclusive limited-edition road-going Jaguar ever available here.

Jaguar’s 5.0-litre supercharged V8 engine, as seen in the F-TYPE R Coupe, is installed in the F-TYPE Project 7 but SVO has fettled it to produce 423kW (19kW more than the F-TYPE R Coupe) and 700Nm of torque.

The eight-speed Quickshift automatic transmission and second-generation Electronic Active Differential delivers the power to the rear wheels, with transmission calibration tweaked via revised shift points for the Project 7.

The aluminium-bodied roadster — which at 1585kg weighs 80kg less than the F-TYPE V8 S Convertible — gets to 100km/h from rest in a blistering 3.9 seconds, with top speed electronically limited to 300km/h.

Helping performance — and sound — in the Project 7 is a switchable Active Sports Exhaust system with quad matt-black ceramic-coated exhaust outlets.

There are electronically-controlled bypass valves in the rear section of the exhaust which are mapped to open according to a range of parameters, effectively altering the exhaust gas routing into a free-flowing straight-through arrangement to both reduce back pressure and enhance sound quality.

The unique F-TYPE hoses off speed with the biggest Gerni of them all, Carbon Ceramic Matrix (CCM) brakes. Available as an option on the F-TYPE R Coupe, the ceramic brakes are standard on the F-TYPE Project 7 and comprise discs measuring 398mm at the front, clamped by six-piston monobloc callipers, while the back pair are 380mm discs with four-piston monobloc callipers.

Also fitted to the Project 7 is Torque Vectoring by Braking (TVbB) which liaises with the EAD to maximise traction.

The F-TYPE Project 7 sits on 20-inch gloss black Storm alloy wheels, which can be fitted with high-performance Continental ForceContact tyres.

Recalling Jaguar's famous D-type with its fairing behind the driver, the Project 7 features a short windscreen, new front bumper and aero mods such as a carbon-fibre front splitter, side skirts, rear diffuser and a rear spoiler.

While the D-type was a single-seater, the Project 7 is a two-seater with rollover hoops for both driver and passenger.

The Project 7 is the fastest and quickest production Jaguar ever built, but it might not be for long with reports that SVO is already looking at producing a sequel.