Mention Jaguar and the first thing that would come to most mind would be a car that is not only beautiful to behold, it oozes with class and luxury within. The engine will purr as your right foot steps on the accelerator gently, and a surprising number of ponies will kick in without you realizing it. With such pedigree of motoring engineering achievement behind it, it makes perfect sense expect a whole lot more with a model that has been named as the Jaguar XE Special Edition, which is also known as the XE SV Project 8.
This is a hand-built, high performance sedan that claims to be able to hit a maximum speed of 200 miles per hour thanks to the 592 horsepower that lies underneath the hood. The top speed will be electronically limited of course, since public roads are not the right place to test out the extreme capabilities of the Jaguar XE Special Edition.
In order to make sure that the driver remains in complete control all the time, the Jaguar XE SV Project 8, this mean machine features carbon ceramic braking to provide maximum stopping power, silicon nitride ceramic wheel bearings and a 5-liter, supercharged 8-cylinder gasoline engine that is simply raring to go.
It is basically the tricked-out version of the Jaguar XE, and it debuted officially at England's Goodwood Festival of Speed. The kind of performance that this Jaguar XE Special Edition is able to eke out from all of its 592 ponies underneath the hood? We are looking at a mindblowing 0 to 60 mph in a mere 3.3 seconds.
This all-wheel drive vehicle boasts of an adrenaline pumping eight-speed automatic gearbox. The AWD is a tuned version of the Jaguar F-Type SVR’s, and it will feature a paddleshift transmission that has been deemed to be the quickest which Jaguar engineers have delivered to date. Apart from that, there is an electronic differential on the rear axle, which in turn has its very own cooling system keep everything running well even at extreme performance curves. Both suspension and aerodynamics remain manually adjustable for a greater degree of customization.
The UK automaker claims that this is "the most powerful, agile and extreme performance Jaguar road car ever produced," and certainly motoring enthusiasts are not going to pore over history books to debunk that claim. However, there will be a limited number of these collector’s edition rides to the tune of 300 vehicles, and all of them will be assembled in Coventry, England. While pricing details remain unknown for the Jaguar XE Special Edition, the entry level Jaguar XE model for the working executive is priced at $43,000 apiece.
Based on what other automakers have done in the past with a souped up version of their current models, potential suitors of the Jaguar XE Special Edition might be looking at a 100% premium over the regular price point. It would not be surprising to see it go head to head against the 2017 BMW M5 which costs $95,000 thereabouts, in terms of both performance and pricing. There have been other rumors going around that the Jaguar XE Special Edition is going to cost a whole lot more in fact -- to the tune of more than $180,000, but all of it will remain as a rumor until Jaguar issues an official statement.
What other vehicles in the market that are capable of matching the Jaguar XE Special Edition’s o to 60 mph times? The upcoming Tesla Model 3 is said to be one of them, but do bear in mind that an electric-powered car does have its limitations if one is going to go for a long road trip, although the presence of an expanded supercharger network does make life a whole lot more convenient.
