There should be no debate that Jaguar Land Rover's Special Operations division has created one heck of a monster in the XE SV Project 8. But the British automaker put any lingering doubt to rest this week when it set a new lap record for "production" sedans (however loose the definition) at no less challenging a track than Laguna Seca.



Motor Trend's Randy Pobst man-handled the stripped-down, amped-up performance sedan around the notorious California circuit in a blistering 1 minute and 37.54 seconds to claim the record. That's almost a full second quicker than the previous record-holder.