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2019 Jaguar XE SV Project 8 review – interior and tech

Jaguar's XE SV Project 8 takes a rather extreme approach to the supersaloon recipe than most, but has an equally extreme price tag to match

Evo rating
Price
from £149,995
  • Performance, poise and ability on track, usable on road, bombastic soundtrack
  • Cup 2 tyres struggle in the wet, a few levels above the usual saloon price point

The Project 8’s interior ambience changes somewhat depending on whether you opt for the Track Pack or not. If you do, then the rear bench makes way for a roll-cage, and the standard reclining buckets are replaced with fixed-back items with four-point harnesses.

This does seem slightly incongruous when staring at you from the other direction is a near-standard interpretation of the regular Jaguar XE dashboard. In common with some of Jaguar’s other high-end performance models, this does breed an environment that doesn’t quite match up with the price tag, though objectively and in isolation the XE’s cabin is perfectly reasonable.

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One welcome touch is the Alcantara steering wheel rim, while Jaguar’s infotainment system is improving all the time, and the digital instrument cluster ahead of you is clear enough for quick driving. Minor controls are sensibly arranged and physical buttons still handle the heating and ventilation.

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