Most powerful Jaguar ever now on sale here
But it will cost you more than $300,000 and you can’t drive it on the roadThe most powerful Jaguar road car ever made is now on sale in Australia. But it costs more than $300,000 and you won’t be able to drive it on the road legally.
Only 300 examples of the 441kW supercharged V8-powered all-wheel drive Jaguar XE SV Project sedan are being built in the UK by Jaguar’s high-performance SVO division, all of them left-hand drive.
The base price in Australia is $325,000 plus on-road costs, but for an extra $24,000 you can get the rear seats removed and a rollcage added, along with a data-logger and racing seats complete with four-point harnesses installed.
One example of the Project 8 is already in Australia and was on display at the Formula 1 grand prix. That car is now doing the media rounds and being exposed to ‘high-value’ customers at circuit-based events.
We’ve driven it and that story including video will be published after Easter.
Jaguar Australia’s James Scrimshaw said that so far no orders have been placed in Australia for the Project 8, which is probably not a surprise considering it wasn’t originally planned to come here.
“Australia has put its hand up and said ‘we want to sell it’,” Scrimshaw confirmed. “We can’t offer it on the road but we can offer it to any enthusiast for track-day use, for racing or for Targa.
“Anyone can go in and order one from a dealer … but they won’t be able to drive it on the road.”
The Project 8 has been extensively modified compared to the standard XE. The body is 75 per cent new, there are both aluminium and carbon-fibre body panels and a suite of aerodynamic aids including an adjustable rear wing.
To go with the supercharged V8, there’s an eight-speed auto, all-wheel drive, adjustable ride-height suspension, carbon-ceramic brakes, billet machined steering knuckles and an oil-cooled electric active differential.
Jaguar has promoted the car by setting lap records at the Nurburgring in Germany, Laguna Seca in the USA and the Dubai Autodrome in the United Arab Emirates.
“We’d like to do something like that at an Australian circuit with the car, but there are no plans in place or anything like that,” said Scrimshaw.
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