The Jaguar Special Vehicle Operations-developed XE SV Project 8 has set a new fastest Nürburgring Nordschleife lap time for a four-door production car again. The sedan completed the 20.8km (13 mile) track in 7min 18.361 seconds.
This new officially verified time is 2.9 seconds faster than Project 8’s previous benchmark set in November 2017 and 7 seconds faster than any other four-door production car has achieved.
Returning to the German circuit in a production-specification two-seat Track Pack version of Project 8 was development driver Vincent Radermecker. The car’s height-adjustable twin-spring coil-over suspension was set in ‘track’ ride height, with adjustable front splitter and carbon-fiber rear aerodynamic wing positioned for maximum downforce and stability.
To maximize performance and steering precision, for the final record runs Project 8 was fitted with new off-the-shelf ultra-high-performance Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tires. Tested and chosen by SV engineers for their capability on the track, the road-legal tires use rubber compounds directly transferred from Michelin’s competition tires.
Jamal Hameedi, engineering director, Jaguar Special Vehicle Operations, said, “The original Nürburgring time set by Jaguar XE SV Project 8 demonstrated the extreme performance envelope of the world’s fastest production sedan, but the SV team is driven by a motorsport mentality and we knew Project 8 could go even faster.”
Powered by the most highly tuned 590bhp version of Jaguar’s 5-liter supercharged V8, the all-wheel-drive Project 8 is capable of 0-100km/h in 3.3 seconds and a top speed of 320km/h (198mph).
