Report: Jaguar to produce 489bhp XE SVR to duke it out with BMW M3

Jaguar is serious about competing against Germany, Japan and America. They’re so serious in fact, Britain’s AutoExpress recently heard of a possible new M3 fighter from the Coventry-based automaker.

According to the report, the model would take form as an XE SVR, based on the new BMW 3-Series fighter due from Jaguar in the near future. It’ll be built by Jaguar-Land Rover’s Special Operations Division, the same branch responsible for the F-Type Project 7.

The Jaguar XE SVR will be the brand’s first addition to the BMW M3 fight, next to the Audi RS4, the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG, and the Lexus IS F. A 5.0L supercharged V8 from the larger XJR could be shoehorned into the front end of the XE with 489bhp on tap for a 0-60 time of around four seconds.

As usual, expect larger brakes, more aggressive suspension and steering tuning and bodywork, with a standard electronically-controlled limited-slip differential. An active exhaust system modeled after the one on the F-Type is included to make things just as interesting.

So when should we expect it? Sometime in 2016, AE predicts.

Source: AutoExpress