It's not very often that a car breaks its own record, but Jaguar has done just that. The British carmaker's hardcore XE SV Project 8 has broken its own Nurburgring lap record for a four-door production sedan with a new time of 7:18.361. Project 8 development driver Vincent Radermecker, who previously piloted the vehicle for its initial 'Ring lap record back in 2017, was at the helm once again.

Before the Jaguar XE SV Project 8 set the record two years ago, the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio held the crown with a time of 7:32. The Jaguar beat that with a time of 7:21.23 and has now smashed its own record by 2.9 seconds. All of this has been officially verified for the record books.

All the more impressive is that no modifications were done to the Project 8's 5.0-liter supercharged V8, which delivers a total of 592 horsepower. Jaguar did swap in a new set of Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires this time around in order to "maximize performance and steering precision." The tested vehicle itself was entirely production-spec and was equipped with the two-seat Track Pack, which is not available in the US, unfortunately.

"The original Nürburgring time set by Jaguar XE SV Project 8 demonstrated the extreme performance envelope of the world's fastest production sedan, but the SV team is driven by a motorsport mentality and we knew Project 8 could go even faster," said Jamal Hameedi, Jaguar Special Vehicle Operations engineering chief. "This new official record time is a fitting reward for everyone who has played a part in pushing the boundaries for our customers with Project 8."

Jaguar is reportedly scheduled to complete Project 8 production later this year. Last month, the UK firm unveiled the XE SV Project 8 Grand Tourer, featuring some subtle exterior styling changes. Total production will be capped at only 15 examples. The "regular" Project 8 is limited to 300 units.