ROAD TEST “I LIKE

ROAD TEST “I LIKE THE FACT THAT I Despite the extreme tyres, the Project 8 is not all grip and no finesse. Turning into a long uphill hairpin you can immediately feel the loading on the outside front wheel and begin adjusting your line accordingly with the tactile Alcantara-trimmed steering wheel. Just like the 300 SPORT you need to work with the weight transfer and like the 300 SPORT, the Project 8 has all-wheel drive that feels beautifully, naturally rear-drive in its balance. Of course the Project 8 has much firmer suspension but the damping is sufficiently sophisticated that it still manages to soak up the inevitable imperfections in the road. It is a beautiful, if somewhat barren, road to the Sapienza Refuge that marks the high water mark for tarmac on Mount Etna, and late in the day, it is pleasantly quiet up here, after the hubbub of tourist traffic has died down. Just as I quell the engine, unclip the Sabelt harnesses and get out onto the bizarre black landscape, I notice a small red cylinder behind me. It is mounted, along with a Harness Retention Hoop, where the rear seats would be in a normal XE, and forms part of the optional Track Package. Both are there purely as reassurance, but as I look out over the bewitching expanse of Sicily that I have traversed to get here, I rather like the fact that I have driven up a volcano with a fire extinguisher. The 300 people lucky enough to be buying an XE SV Project 8 will own a very special car indeed. It is fantastic to see Jaguar making the leap into this sort of extreme performance car and I hope it won’t be the last time we see something like this emerge from Special Vehicle Operations. And, of course, if you’ve just missed out on securing one of the Project 8s, then it’s nice to know that in the 300 Sport there is another, more attainable XE that is still capable of thrilling on these demanding Sicilian roads. Henry Catchpole is a motoring journalist who writes for magazines such as Evo and Top Gear, and presents for Carfection. When he’s not busy driving supercars, he’s into rallying and bicycle racing. The Project 8 unleashes fire and fury on the way up to the caldera of Mt Etna. Henry delights in the car’s race-spec engineering, and in the little touches too 30 THE JAGUAR

HAVE DRIVEN UP A VOLCANO WITH A SMALL FIRE EXTINGUISHER”