The Jaguar Project 8 has beaten its own Nürburgring record

The Jaguar Project 8 has beaten the Jaguar Project 8’s four-door production car lap record at the Nürburgring with a time of 7m 18.36s. That’s 2.9 seconds faster than the Jaguar Project 8’s previous record from 2017.

Development driver Vincent Radermecker’s new time is hugely impressive – it’s less than six seconds off the current Porsche 911 GT3 over the 12.8-mile lap. That’s mighty quick.

If you need a quick stats recap, the Project 8’s 5.0-litre supercharged V8 puts out 592bhp and propels the old XE from 0-60mph in 3.3 seconds, before heading on to a top speed of 200mph.

There’s plenty of carbon fibre too and new panels galore, as well as an adjustable front splitter, rear wing and suspension setup. The cost? £149,995.

To qualify for the record, the bonkers Jag was clad in road-legal Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tyres, although many will argue that the presence of the optional roll cage in place of rear seats makes the whole ‘four-door’ thing obsolete. Mercedes certainly did. Hmm.

Still, there’s no arguing that the Project 8 fulfils the production car criteria, meaning we can discount the crazy 6m 57.5s time of the wonderfully-named Subaru WRX STI Type RA NBR.

So, if the Project 8’s previous record hadn’t convinced you to buy one, will Radermecker’s new time have you rushing down to the local JLR showroom?