Extreme Jaguar breaks Nurburgring record

The awesome Jaguar XE SV Project 8 has smashed the saloon car lap record on the Nurburgring Nordschleife.

Its 7min 21.2sec lap time was 11 seconds faster than the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio – the ‘fastest four-door’ until now.

However, as Jaguar admits, it was “the fastest ever time by a four-door sedan in production-intent specification”, so unlike the Alfa, the XE SV Project 8 is still officially a prototype. That said, it’s still an astonishing time difference.

The Jaguar XE SV Project 8 – designed, engineered and hand-assembled by the company’s Special Vehicle Operations (SVO), is the most extreme performance road-legal Jaguar ever.

Capable of 0-60mph in 3.3 seconds and a top speed of 200mph, it’s powered by a 592bhp supercharged V8.

It’s expected to go into production next year, but only 300 examples will go on sale worldwide, priced from £149,995 in UK.

“SVO exists to push the boundaries of performance, luxury and all-terrain capability,” said John Edwards, Jaguar Land Rover Special Operations Managing Director.

“The hand-assembled XE SV Project 8 takes that principle to the limit, extracting supercar-beating performance from Jaguar’s most compact four-door sedan.

“The Nürburgring Nordschleife record underlines our commitment to deliver the most extreme Jaguar ever to Project 8 clients, who will soon experience this sensational sedan for themselves.”