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- It's the noise that hits you first. For a hybrid supercar running in pure electric mode the C-X75 makes a meaty growl.
- JLR has a four-lane high-speed bowl at Gaydon and, as Cross buries the throttle on the slip road, the air is sucked from my lungs. The sound and feel is much like a highly tuned superbike – think Suzuki Hayabusa on acid.
- With a rev limiter at 10,500rpm the tiny 1.6-litre engine screams towards the higher reaches of its song with ferocious intensity, pinning you into the bucket seats.
- The C-X75 eventually tops out at 198mph, or so I thought. I later learn that the prototype has a standard Jaguar digital speedo incapable of clicking over 200mph – the real top speed was 205mph.
- My time behind the wheel is a nervous experience. On my first lap the savage gear changes and drama of the whole event wash over me.
- The acceleration is immense; it's like nothing I've experienced before on four wheels
- I hit 187mph before chickening out and plunging the long travel brake pedal into the floor.
- My time in this special Jaguar is short but it's long enough to leave a memory that will remain imprinted on my mind for a lifetime.