Stand by for F-TYPE SVR

Jaguar has already received five Australian orders for the first product of its newly formed Special Vehicles Operations division, the F-TYPE Project 7.

Designed to celebrate the brand's seven wins at the Le Mans 24-hour, the Project 7 is the fastest and most powerful production Jaguar ever.

Just 250 examples will be produced globally and Jaguar Land Rover Australia Managing Director Michael Winkler said his company is still lobbying for sufficient supplies.

"We've raised our hand and we're hoping to get a good allocation," he said. "We already have five orders and we're hopeful of satisfying them."

The first local examples of the limited-edition Project 7, which is based on the F-TYPE convertible and powered by a 423kW 5.0-litre supercharged V8, arrive here in mid-2015.

However, the Project 7 is just a precursor to a full range of high-performance SVR-badged models from SVO – Jaguar Land Rover's answer to BMW M, Mercedes-AMG and Audi Sport — including the F-TYPE SVR, which has already been spotted testing and could be even more powerful.

Previously expected to be called the F-TYPE RS, the F-TYPE SVR will be produced in roadster and coupe form and should share the Project 7's mechanicals, including adjustable dampers and springs, new front suspension knuckles, revised top mounts and firmer anti-roll bars.

If the F-TYPE Project 7 is any guide, the SVR will also be 80kg lighter at 1585kg, thanks to more carbon-fibre and aluminium components, and it will also accelerate to 100km/h in 3.9 seconds – three-tenths quicker than the F-TYPE R Coupe – and reach an electronically limited 300km/h top speed.

The hottest full-time member of the F-TYPE family will also get a more focussed chassis that should include the Project 7's bigger carbon ceramic matrix disc brakes measuring 398mm at the front and 380mm at the rear, gripped by six- and four-pot monobloc callipers.

Naturally there'll be a more sporting exterior design too, including a carbon-fibre front splitter, side skirts, rear diffuser and fixed rear wing, and other Project 7 additions like 20-inch gloss black wheels and a matt-black ceramic-coated quad exhaust system could also feature on the F-TYPE SVR.

But the D-Type-inspired Project 7's speedster-style bubble-section fairing behind the driver won't be seen on the SVR.

The F-TYPE SVR is likely to follow the Range Rover Sport SVR — which packs the same 404kW blown V8 as the XJR, XKR-S and F-TYPE R Coupe – as the second SVR model from SVO.

The Rangie Sport SVR prototype, which made its world debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed last month, is claimed to be the most agile Ranger Rover ever and the production version will be a direct rival for the BMW X5 M, Mercedes-Benz ML 63 AMG and Porsche Cayenne Turbo.

Effectively a rebranded and expanded version of Jaguar's previous engineered-to-order division (ETO), SVO is the umbrella sub-brand covering a range of specialist JLR functions including limited-edition specials like the Project 7, heritage cars, merchandise and SVR models to rival hot German M, AMG and RS models.

Eventually, the SVR moniker is expected to be applied to a range of Jaguar Land Rover models, including the upcoming XE and Discovery Sport, replacing existing top-shelf RS versions of the XF and XK.

Jaguar Australia Brand Manager Mark Eedle said the SVO treatment would not necessarily be applied to all JLR models, but confirmed the SVR badge would grace a range of vehicles.

"We've announced SVO as a new division and talked about its capabilities. So you'd come to a natural conclusion that there are more opportunities..."

Jaguar Land Rover Australia Managing Director Michael Winkler said SVO will take both brands to a new level in Australia without directly targeting European rivals.

“There is an appetite in the market for something different to what has become premium mainstream... for people who want something slightly different,” he said.

“It's not outdoing or copying AMG or M but putting a particular twist to it in line with the Jaguar and Land Rover brand values. These are the absolute halo models for any car that it's going to be applied to.

"There's a huge appetite for that especially in Australia, where in terms of percentages we're one of the largest markets in the world."

At the other end of the F-TYPE scale, Winkler said he was not aware of any plans to offer a four-cylinder F-TYPE powered by one of Jaguar's new turbocharged four-cylinder Ingenium engines and priced from under $100,000.