Review: 2019 Jaguar XE SV Project 8 Touring

But then we all saw it, and suddenly it seemed to bristle with everything that Jaguar should be about. It was meaty, loud, whining with supercharged anger and ready to annihilate any circuit you could point it at. The only problem with the Jaguar XE SV Project 8 that we could see at the time, was where to put your family.

Queue the entrance of the equally difficultly named Jaguar XE SV Project 8 Touring. It takes the same formula as the standard XE SV Project 8 and makes it a little more real-world. So in come rear seats, out goes the rear wing, cage and that moving splitter. Subtlety is still not the Project 8’s (for even SEO needs won’t make me keep typing the full name) forte, but now it’s a tiny bit less lairy, and you can carry the kids.

Out of a 300-run of Project 8s the Touring will only make up 15 for now, but you can bet your bottom dollar that if someone comes along with the cash and asks them for more SVO probably won’t say no. The Touring still has the same 600PS (592bhp), 700Nm (516lb ft) V8 out front and will still hit 60mph in just 3.3 seconds. However, because of the lack of downforce without the rear wing and splitter (which between them produced around 125kg of downward push) you’re limited to ‘just’ 186mph rather than smashing the 200mph barrier. If that puts you off then the Touring probably isn’t for you anyway.

Other than that the Touring is the same package as the ‘Track’ edition. It has an eight-speed gearbox sending power to all four wheels through a rather clever intelligent all-wheel-drive system. That system is necessary. The Touring may be a slightly pared-down version of the Project 8, but it still holds the most powerful engine Jaguar have put in a road car.

The other question here is whether the Project 8 could ever work in any form on the road. The quick answer is that it can. The normal Project 8 surprises with its ability to absorb what British roads throw at it, despite its essentially hardcore nature. The Project 8 is undeniably stiff – hit a ridge that’s a little bigger than you thought and you will probably find yourself airborne – but it controls that stiffness incredibly well. The ride is not a waft, but it’s not unpleasant. Rather than feeling like it wants to reintroduce your spine to the top of your skull, it rides the bumps sharply, but absorbantly. The damping is a work of art.

The Touring then takes that refinement and, rather than putting it through the (admittedly incredible) racing bucket seats, it sends them through some more standard leather. Inside it feels like a normal XE, just with a warp drive added. The Touring is therefore slightly heavier than the track pack version, but not by much. And when you drive it fast it really doesn’t feel any heavier. You’re obviously not as held in place as you would be in the track version, but it’s nothing that would ever bother you. As soon as you fire up that incredible V8 and stick your foot down you’ll barely notice the difference.

Traction is incredible, thanks to that all-wheel-drive system, which is cleverly sending more power backwards, but adding some front action just to help out. Therefore the Project 8 Touring feels like more than just a super-saloon on steroids. It’s all accompanied by the noise of a supercharged V8, which burbles while it’s idling, then roars as the revs lift before being joined by the whine of its massive supercharger at the higher ends. It’s an orchestra of noise and brutality that I could live with almost every day.

When you get to the corners the experience doesn’t diminish, the systems underneath help generate so much grip you wonder if this is a naughty 1,800kg super-saloon at all, rather than something much more lithe. The steering response is lightning fast and all together the Project 8 oozes confidence as it eats up the miles. We never had a chance to try the Project 8 Touring on a track, but if it’s anywhere near as good as it is on the road it will be an absolute weapon, and by all accounts it’s pretty good.

Outside the Touring is a little more subtle than the standard Project 8, but only in a way that it would take two looks to identify it, rather than in old-fashioned Q-car stealth territory, but the moment you start up the nuclear warhead under the bonnet no one will be able to mis-identify it. It’s a shame that all XE SV Project 8s, whether they be track, normal or touring, will be left-hand-drive, but most of them will leave the country as soon as they’re built, so it makes sense for Jaguar SVO to save themselves the bother of engineering another option.

So is there a space for a £150,000 Jaguar XE in our world in 2019? We think there is. Sure there are other cars out there that answer many of the questions that the XE asks, but none of them look as bonkers, feel as utterly naughty or carry four people at 186mph in comfort complete with reversing cameras and heated seats and your entire family in the back.