Jaguar XE Project 8 gains ‘Touring’ spec, available in Australia
Like the idea of a Project 8 but afraid it draws a bit much attention to itself? The new Touring pack could offer a solution.
Jaguar has followed in Porsche's footsteps, adding a more subtle 'Touring' specification to its hardcore XE Project 8 sedan range.
Gone is the Project 8's ostentatious rear wing and stickers, replaced with a tidy little lip spoiler. Just 15 examples will be built, all of which will be offered with a four-seat interior, as Jaguar looks to reposition the supercharged special edition as a practical family option. Well, as practical as a car with a supercharged V8 making 447kW can be, anyway.
Thanks to the 5.0-litre V8 up front, the Project 8 Touring will hit 100km/h in 3.7 seconds from standstill. Top speed is limited to 300km/h though, where the regular Project 8 will do 322km/h at full noise.
A range of four colours is available, and buyers can have the stickers added back on if they're desperate. But we'd suggest the 'ultimate Q car' should probably go without garish stickers.
After all, the car's pumped-up rear guards, aggressive carbon-fibre bodykit, blacked-out wheels and hole-punched front bumper are clear points of differentiation from the wider range. There's also a totally redesigned suspension setup, extra body bracing and a transmission that shifts with "all the subtlety of a brick to the face".
As with the wider Project 8 range, the Touring is left-hand drive only. It's priced from £149,995 ($282,000) in the UK.
Australia
The 'regular' Project 8 is offered in Australia, but only as a left-hand drive track car. It's priced between $325,000 and $349,000 depending on spec. The Touring grade will be offered from $325,000 but, as it's LHD, won't be road-legal.
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