Jaguar Revs Up Special-Edition XE Sedan

Jaguar Land Rover Ltd. says its upcoming Jaguar XE SV Project 8 sedan will generate 591 hp, making it the brand's most powerful production model ever.

The all-wheel-drive vehicle will be propelled by the same supercharged 5.0-liter V-8 engine used in the 2014 F-Type Project 7 car. But Jaguar says it has tuned the engine—mated with an upgraded 8-speed ZF transmission—to generate an additional 24 hp in XE SV than it did in the rear-wheel-drive F-Type Project 7. The new XE Project 8 also is expected to best the earlier model’s zero-to-60 mph time of 3.5 seconds.

Both vehicles were developed by Jaguar’s Special Vehicle Operations. The XE Project 8 will be hand-built at Jaguar SVO’s facility in Coventry, England, with production limited to 300 units.

Jaguar released photos of a lightly camouflaged version of the vehicle this week and is expected to publicly unveil the car next month at the U.K.’s Goodwood Festival of Speed. The Project 8 sedan has a wider track, oversize bumpers, bigger air dams, flared rear fenders, an air diffuser and trunk-mounted spoiler than the base XE model.