'Ring record: Jaguar XE SV Project 8 - 'world's fastest four-door car'

• 441kW Jaguar XE SV Project 8 
• Laps Nürburgring Nordschleife in 7min 21.2sec 
• Most extreme performance road-legal Jaguar 
• Capable of 0-100km/h in 3.7 seconds
• Top speed of 322km/h

Pretoria  – Jaguar’s SVO-developed XE SV Project 8, says the automaker, is the world’s fastest four-door car, following a production-intent prototype’s record lap of the Nürburgring Nordschleife. 

The incredible time of 7min 21.2sec is nearly 11 seconds quicker than the previous fastest sedan around the legendary 20.76km German circuit and puts the 441kW Project 8 ahead of some of the world’s fastest two-door coupés and supercars.

Production is limited to 300 left-hand drive units and as a result, the XE SV Project 8 will not be available in South Africa. 

Watch the lap below:

Mark Stanton, SVO Director, said: “The SVO design and engineering team’s mission was to create the most track-focused road-legal Jaguar in history – not only the fastest, but also the most agile.

As a result, only the roof and front door skins of Project 8’s body are carried-over unaltered from XE and 75% of its mechanical hardware is new. This astonishing Nürburgring Nordschleife record validates the success of such extensive changes.”

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