GALLERY: Jaguar XE SV Project 8, Another Take
International Cat Day was a great day to introduce the rowdiest cat to ever come from the Jaguar brand.
Jaguar has brought the highly anticipated XE SV Project 8 to the States. My colleagues and I were absolutely staggered to see it up close and personal. If you’re not familiar with the Project 8, allow me to get you up to speed. Jaguar have essentially sent an XE saloon to the Special Vehicle Operations (SVO), their Skunkworks division, for a fair bit of modification. The end result – Project 8: The most powerful street legal Jaguar in history, making 592 horsepower from its 5.0L supercharged V8. Yes, even more powerful that the legendary XJ220 that made 542 ponies back in the early 90s.
SVO brought the Project 8 to the Automobile Driving Museum in El Segundo, CA for our exclusive sneak peek. As soon as I walked up to the car, it was simply love at first sight. The standard XE is already a good looking automobile, but with the stunning blue paint and all the aero bits and bobs added, it made it quite hard not to stare in awe. I walked around the Project 8 a few times and couldn’t find an angle where it wasn’t pleasing to the eye.
Best part of the exterior: Real air vents that actually serve a purpose!
The noise people! The noise…
Now let’s get to the party piece – the exhaust note. Let me rephrase that. The quad pipes coming out the rear of the Project 8 are actually musical instruments that are meant to arouse and make you lose hearing all at once within say a half-mile radius. Is there a better sounding V8 currently in production? I first thought of the Shelby GT350R. It’s a really close call, but I think the Project 8 takes the cake. And I so want to eat it too…
Here are some photos I took of the XE SV Project 8. Enjoy and let us know what you think on the forum!
