JAGUAR XE SV PROJECT 8 FIRST TEST: EXCLUSIVE AND EXTREME

The Jaguar XE SV Project 8 has an insatiable appetite for breaking records. First, it shattered the four-door production sedan lap time at the Nurburgring with a time of 7:21.23. That's 11 seconds quicker than the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio, the former record-holder and our 2018 Car of the Year. Then, just last year, MotorTrend pro racer Randy Pobst set a production sedan lap record of 1:37.54 at WeatherTech Laguna Seca, eclipsing the 1:38.52 set previously by a 2016 Cadillac CTS-V.

What else would you expect from a Jaguar XE that looks like it's been injected with massive amounts of steroids and carbon fiber? With a supercharged 5.0-liter V-8 cranking out 592 horsepower, the Project 8 is also Jaguar's most powerful roadgoing car to date.

But in light of these accomplishments, Jaguar insists that it's a worthy roadgoing car as well. That's right—despite the bespoke bodywork, the pavement-sniffing splitter, and the massive wing out back, "compromise was not in the nature of this product," according to one of the Project 8's lead engineers. And you know what? They're right. Out on the road, the Project 8 is comfortable—even practical. Although EPA estimates fuel economy to be 16/22 city/highway, we observed an indicated 25 mpg during extended stints on the freeway. This fearsome cat is also a cuddly kitty.

Then again, it had better be. The base price of the Project 8 is a blood-chilling $188,495. That's far more than such four-door performance heavyweights as the BMW M5 ($104,595), the Mercedes-AMG E 63 S ($105,395), or the Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid. It's more than twice the price of the aforementioned Alfa, which starts at a comparatively thrifty $75,590. None of these models, however, can boast a claimed 200-mph top speed. So there's that.

Our Velocity Blue tester featured a slew of options that were thoughtfully included at no cost. Some were appreciated, such as the 825-watt Meridian sound system and the trick 20-inch wheels, whose design resembles reverse five-spokes. We could have done without the giant cat vinyl decal gracing the flanks of the sheetmetal, however. And for a record-breaking sports car, the front seats are a letdown. While the upper portion cradles the torso nicely, the bottom offers no lateral support to speak of. Outside of North America, buyers can choose a two-seat Track Pack option that offers carbon-fiber shells with four-point harnesses. Lucky.

Still, there's that monstrous engine. It's the only V-8 ever to grace the engine bay of an XE, here mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission driving all four wheels. And this V-8 slays. In our acceleration tests, the Project 8 leapt off the line to reach 60 mph in 3.2 seconds and cleared the quarter mile in 11.4 seconds at 122 mph. Road test editor Chris Walton had nothing but praise for its straight-line ability. "Super fast but no harsh shifts, glorious sounds including the 'furp' between gears. Love this thing to pieces."

Braking was equally as impressive, with the Project 8 needing only 104 feet to stop from 60 mph. Walton noted that there was "very little dive in the most aggressive drive mode, but some lightness in the rear of the car [when braking] from 100 mph." We would soon discover that there was a solution for the dive, though frustratingly, we weren't able to fully exploit it.

One of the most interesting things about the Project 8 is that it offers not one, but two Track modes. The first is software based: A push of a button on the console quickens steering and throttle responses and permits more leeway in the stability control thresholds.

The second Track Mode requires some hands-on tweaking to the suspension and aerodynamics. The front splitter is extended, the rear wing's angle is adjusted, and the ride height is lowered 0.6 inches through adjustable coil springs. Despite needing some tools, it's still a fairly straightforward operation, but Jaguar insisted on handling the adjustments themselves in-house before trailering it to the track. Most Project 8 owners should be able to make these changes on their own.

This was exciting. Our plans were to lap the Project 8 exclusively in Track mode and conduct instrumented testing in both Street and Track modes to see how they differed. (The push-button Track mode was used for both.) We were especially curious to see if the lowered setting reduced dive during heavy braking.

Pushing the button was easy. The instrument panel confirmed our choice with a neat helmet-shaped icon on the display, though Randy was disappointed by the lack of information. "I couldn't get any gauges up. I was surprised in the Track mode with the little helmet up that there were no gauges, no temperatures. I was curious on the fourth lap if the engine was getting warm … and I couldn't find it."

But that oversight paled in the efforts to successfully execute the other Track mode. For whatever reason, Jaguar techs insisted the ride height wasn't adjustable because our sample was an "early build." However, they had no problem adjusting the aero parts, so it was delivered to us in what Walton dubbed "Track-ish" mode.

The small tweaks indeed offered small improvements, most notably in our handling tests: In Street setup, the Project 8 pulled 1.02 g on the skidpad and ran the figure-eight loop in 23.4 seconds at 0.88 g. Those same tests run in Track returned 1.04 on the skidpad and 23.2 seconds around the figure eight at 0.91 g.

It's too bad the suspension couldn't be lowered, as it might have quelled some of the dynamic quibbles that testing director Kim Reynolds had during testing. "A lot of bouncing mid-corner," he noted. "Very springy steering and not a whole lot of feel. This thing is fast but not that well integrated."

Given the Project 8's record-breaking pedigree, perhaps it would fare better at the track, even in "Track-ish" mode. Randy strapped on his helmet and headed out on the Streets of Willow to find out

The numbers first: The Project 8 lapped Streets in 1:22.02, placing it above the Alfa (1:22.78) but behind our quickest four-door ever, the Tesla Model 3 Performance with Track Mode (1:21.49). Not bad at all, but not a record-setter.

Randy offered some thoughts. "It's a good-handling car that's heavy, and every so often that heaviness would raise its head. Eighty percent of the time, it feels pretty agile, and 20 percent of the time it feels heavy and ponderous." With a tested curb weight of 4,041 pounds, the Project 8 undercuts the Model 3 by a mere 37 pounds. Perhaps weight wasn't the issue, but there certainly was a perception of it.

Randy concluded that the hefty nature stemmed from the power distribution characteristics of the all-wheel-drive system. "I know it's supposed to be really balanced, but it's still pushy on power in the middle of a corner. It's not a car that can be easily drifted on power with all-wheel drive. It has plenty of power to do that, but it won't." By comparison, while the BMW M5 is also all-wheel drive, we're big fans of how it acts like a rear-wheel-drive car when applying power mid-corner.

Finally, Randy took issue with the inconsistent ABS intervention, which made it difficult to reliably time his corner entry speeds. "One of the few cars where I felt I had to brake going into Turn One because the weight generates all this inertia and momentum, and it's hard to get to that turn. I was a little more careful because there was a tendency for the front end of the car to float a bit on a fast, wide bump. It was losing too much grip, like it needed more front rebound to keep the nose down, and when it did that, ABS engaged really hard, too."

With Randy requesting more rebound and compression from the suspension, our attention went back to the Track-ish mode. Was it possible the street-tuned suspension travel was causing these issues? Walton seemed to think so, but there's no way to know without procuring another Project 8 with a properly adjusted suspension for comparison.

Another Project 8? We've already had two. And with only 300 being produced worldwide, chances are slim that another one will come our way. Suspension gaffes aside, our time with the Project 8 was a rewarding peek into an audacious engineering exercise made production ready.

Those lucky few who manage to snag an order face a difficult decision—preserve it as a collector's item, or drive it as the SVO engineers intended? Our vote might be obvious, but it's also the right one. Exclusivity doesn't come cheap. Why not try to break a few track records of your own?