XE SV

Make
Jaguar
Segment
Sedan

Last month, the Jaguar XE SV Project 8 set an impressive lap time of seven minutes and 18.361 seconds at the Nurburgring, becoming the fastest four-door production sedan to ever lap the Green Hell and beating its previous record by 2.9 seconds. We didn't think this record would be beaten for a long time, but Cyan Racing, the former competition division of Polestar, has absolutely smashed it using the Lynk & Co 03 Cyan Concept.

Behind the wheel of the 528-hp Lynk & Co 03 Cyan Concept was 2017 touring car world champion Thed Bjork, who lapped the Nurburgring Nordschleife in seven minutes and 20.143 seconds, with an average speed of 105 mph.

That makes it three seconds faster than Jaguar's four-door record and 25 seconds faster than the record for front-wheel driven cars that was held by the Renault Megane RS Trophy-R. Cyan Racing also notes the record was achieved on the 12.9-mile circuit layout and not the shorter 12.8-mile version often used by other manufacturers.

"We continued our development of the car in torrential rain and scorching sunshine on the most fearsome circuit in the world," said Bjork. "The record that we achieved here is something I rank on the same level as my racing titles and a highlight in my part of transitioning development from race to road cars."

There is a catch, though. Unlike the Jaguar XE SV Project and Renault Megane RS, the Lynk & Co 03 Cyan Concept isn't a production car, it's a racing car prototype. However, Cyan Racing told Motor1 the car that broke the two records is road legal and registered in Sweden. A production version with the same specs will also be sold "in very limited numbers to VIP customers."

Powering the Lynk&Co 03 Cyan Concept is a 2.0-lite turbo four, paired with a six-speed sequential transmission, and producing 521 hp and 372 lb-ft of torque, enabling the Chinese concept to hit 0-62 mph in 4.4 seconds and a top speed of 193 mph.