Jaguar XE SV Project 8 Touring 2019 first drive

Sales of the track-hardened, Nürburgring lap time-beating Jaguar XE SV Project 8 have been slow, despite there being a limited production run of just 300 examples. In an effort to shift the remaining examples, Jaguar identified the desire among potential punters for a less extreme, road-biased version, so now we have this new Touring model.

What’s new? Not a lot, really. The big change is to the aerodynamics, with the deletion of the huge, downforce-generating spoiler at the rear, which is replaced by a far more subtle lip on the trailing edge of the tailgate. To rebalance the forces, there’s also a new splitter at the front. Oh, and the top speed has been pegged back from 200mph to 186mph in deference to the resulting reduction in very high-speed stability. Anything else? Well, you can only have the car in this configuration with the back seats in place, so no two-seat, roll cage-equipped Track Pack option here.

The rest of the car is unchanged, which means it’s the same bespoke-built machine as before. There’s less aero, but the wide-arched body is still bristling with intent and still only features the roof and door skins from the standard Jaguar XE.

Power comes from the familiar 592bhp supercharged 5.0-litre V8 that drives all four wheels through an eight-speed automatic gearbox. The front and rear tracks have been widened by 24mm and 73mm respectively, while the double-wishbone suspension gets niceties such as recalibrated adaptive dampers and anti-roll bars, billet suspension knuckles and squidge-free ball joints. Finally, the 20in wheels are wrapped in Michelin Pilot Cup 2 tyres and fit over vast carbon-ceramic disc brakes.

To be honest, the Touring is pretty much the same as the track versions. Yet that’s no bad thing, because despite its circuit focus, size and weight (1757kg no less), the XE SV Project 8 is an engaging and entertaining road car. Not only is it supremely fast and impressively poised, but it also delivers a sense of occasion that’s arguably unrivalled.

As a road car, it feels a little too stiff at first, and at low speeds it follows every change in the Tarmac topography with unerring precision. Yet despite that, you notice the ride never gets crashy, with the adaptive dampers just rounding the edges of the worst of the imperfections. Get some load going through the car and, apart from on really lumpy and torn surfaces, you’ll discover just enough composure and suppleness to keep you connected and just about comfortable.