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Jaguar XE SV Project 8 now available for Nurburgring rides

There are a number of ways to experience the Nurburgring Nordschleife, including being driven around by a professional driver. Jaguar runs its own program that does just such a thing called the Race Taxi program. It just became even more appealing because Jaguar has added the XE SV Project 8 as one of the available cars. In case you had forgotten, it's a special car for the program because it currently holds the record for fastest production sedan at the track. Even without a record to its fame, the Jaguar XE SV Project 8 is special for other reasons. It's the most powerful production Jaguar with 592 horsepower. That engine can propel it to 60 mph in a claimed 3.3 seconds. Most of the car's exterior is completely unique to the car. It's a rare machine, too, with only 300 sold. If you want to go for a ride, well first you have to get to the Nurburgring. But once you're there, hand Jaguar 199 euros, or about $227 at current exchange rates, and a driver will take you for a lap of the track. The company brags that you'll experience speeds of over 155 mph, and hit 1.8g in the steeply banked Karussell corner. You only get the one lap, but at least you know it will be a roughly 7 1/2 -minute thrill ride. If you can't get into the Project 8, you'll still be able to ride along in the 575-horsepower F-Type SVR or XJR575. Related Video:

2018 Jaguar F-Pace: Heated windshield option may drive you crazy

Our long-term Jaguar F-Pace is stuffed full of options. It's the top-trim S model with the most powerful engine, and we selected five of seven available option packages. The two we didn't pick were the cheapest ones. There were a handful of individual options we selected, as well, and one of them, the heated windshield, is one that you should definitely think twice about before choosing. The reason being that, in this editor's opinion, it's thoroughly irritating. I actually didn't even know our F-Pace had it the first time I signed it out for an evening. At the end of the day, I grabbed the key, walked down to the parking lot and drove it away without a second thought. A couple miles down Woodward Avenue, though, I noticed that my view out wasn't quite as clear as I expected. I figured the windshield was dusty or something, so on went the windshield washer for a few moments. After everything dried off, I had the same issue. I pulled the washer lever again and still nothing. I leaned forward and squinted my eyes, and that's when I spotted the minuscule heater wires across the entire pane of glass. And once I saw the wires, it was almost impossible to unsee them. My unobstructed view out the car suddenly turned into a CRT screen full of scan lines. They never kept me from safely driving the F-Pace (after all, they are extremely small), but I could never completely forget they were there. It's incredibly frustrating and it gets worse at night as the wires combine with oncoming headlights. I'm not the only one who dislikes them either, as Senior Editor John Snyder and Contributing Editor James Riswick voiced their displeasure with the feature. Not everyone in the office feels this way about the heated windshield, though. Associate Editor Reese Counts said that they don't bother him one bit. And in cold weather climates like Michigan, it should be handy for clearing snow, ice and condensation from the windshield. With these differing opinions, then, this is an option that you'll definitely want to experience for yourself before actually choosing it. You might find it unobtrusive or you might find it insufferable. As for me, I don't think I could deal with having those wires in my face all year 'round. I would rather spend 10 percent of the year when we have accumulating snow and ice scraping it off manually so that the other 90 percent of the year I have a crystal clear view of the road.

Jaguar could yet offer more hardcore F-Type R-S

Jaguar pulled a fast one on us all when it unexpectedly shoehorned all 550 horsepower of the 5.0-liter supercharged V8 from the XKR-S into the new F-Type Coupe to supersede the existing V8 S model with the F-Type R. But that's just the beginning, according to the latest intel coming from the UK.
According to Autocar, in speaking to Jaguar design director Ian Callum during the coupe's unveiling at the LA Auto Show, the British automaker could yet offer R-S and R-S GT versions of the F-Type. Just what mechanical changes those would bring when the F-Type R already packs the company's top engine remains to be seen, but given that the same engine also powers the flagship XJR performance saloon, we could envision Jaguar developing an even more powerful version for R-S versions of the little coupe and big sedan.
The GT version, meanwhile, would likely offer more extreme aero and a lighter form for the truly performance-obsessed. Considering that the new top-of-the-line F-Type is already pushing the hundred-grand mark, you can bet any R-S and R-S GT version would approach double the base F-Type's $65k sticker price.