If you wanna test your performance machine properly, you’re gonna need a racing driver or two. And that’s exactly what Jaguar did with its new XE SV Project 8, putting the pumped-up four-door through its paces at the Goodwood Motor Circuit last month. The results were captured in the following short video.

Continue reading for the full story.

The Full Story

As you might imagine, Jag has quite the roster to pull from when it comes to racing drivers. This time around, Jag tapped Andy Wallace and Davy Jones, who joined forces with the Special Vehicle Operations development team at the U.K. course to give the XE Project 8 a thorough wringing.

Make sure to check out the 2-minute, 51-second video below to see some slick footage of the car heading around the track, complete with a howling V-8 soundtrack and comments from the racing drivers.

Long story short, the pair deemed it “absolutely staggering” and “a winner.”

These folks know what they’re talking about. Wallace is best known for his victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1988 at the wheel of the Jaguar XJR-9. Jones took victory at the Daytona 24 hours in 1990 at the wheel of an XJR-12 (with co-driver Andy Wallace), plus he finished second at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1991 and nabbed a first-place finish at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1996. Both Jones and Wallace raced with the 1988 and 1991 World Sports Car Championship team as well.

“Most road-legal cars on track are a massive disappointment, but Project 8 is really something,” Wallace commented. “It’s absolutely staggering how it has been made to feel like a proper racing car. It keeps wanting you to push harder. It’s not bothered by Goodwood’s undulations, it just hunkers down and feels totally at ease, so you’re happy to get on the throttle earlier. It inspires confidence straight away.”

“The brake pedal feel is fantastic. It is absolutely linear and you can feel what it’s doing,” Wallace said. “The steering too is brilliant. It feels like a car that’s developed after days and days, and hours and hours, of testing. You don’t just ‘luck’ something as good as this. Anybody can build a fast car. But to build a fast car that feels this good - that’s quite an achievement.”

“I’m used to powerful racing cars. But this feels really fast. The sheer acceleration didn’t feel all that different from a 700bhp racing prototype - and that really surprised me,” Jones added. “It’s certainly Jaguar’s best track I’ve driven since the sports prototype Jaguars of the 1980s and 1990s.”

The XE Project 8 will next head to test sessions at Portimao in Portugal, Motorland Aragon in Spain, and Laguna Seca in California.

As a reminder, the Jaguar XE SV Project 8 is powered by 600 horses from a blown 5.0-liter V-8. An eight-speed automatic transmission swaps cogs, while top speed is rated at 200 mph.

Helping it stop are all-new carbon ceramic brakes pumped by motorsport-grade synthetic racing fluid, which combine to reduce fade and maintain a consistent pedal feel, even after repeated hard stops.

Outside, the Project 8 is decked out in a carbon fiber body and adjustable aero kit, while the suspension gets an adjustable ride height and camber.

The XE Project 8 is also a collection of firsts, as it’s the first road car to come equipped with F1-style ceramic wheel bearings and the first Jaguar to come with a dedicated Track Mode.

Interested buyers can get theirs as either a full-fledged four-seater, or in the even-lighter two-seat Track Pack configuration. Pricing starts at $187,500 with deliveries kicking off this summer. Only 300 will be built.

In terms of competition, Jag hopes to take on one of Stuttgart’s best, previously describing the XE Project 8 as a “Porsche GT3 with four seats” *** https://www.topspeed.com/cars/car-news/jaguar-finalizes-xe-sv-project-8-prepares-to-battle-the-porsche-gt3-ar181016.html *** . For now, though, the brand has a little catching up to do, posting a fastest ‘Ring lap record of 7 minutes, 21 seconds, falling short of the GT3’s 7-minute, 12-second record.

References

Read our full review on the 2018 Jaguar XE SV Project 8.

Read more Jaguar news.