Honda's Mean Mower

Honda (UK)'s Mean Mower (#meanmower) has officially broken the ‘GUINNESS WORLD’ title for the Fastest lawnmower, averaging 116.57 mph to break the previous record by almost 30 mph.

The current record of 87.83 mph, set in May 2010, was broken at the IDIADA Proving Ground, in Tarragona, Spain, last month driven by Piers Ward of BBC TopGear Magazine. He had previously achieved a fastest speed on Mean Mower of 87 mph.

Mean Mower was designed and built in the UK by Honda (UK)'s British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) partner, Team Dynamics. The team re-engineered a Honda HF2620 Lawn Tractor fabricating a new chassis, custom-made from 4130 chromoly, and using a 1000cc engine from a Honda VTR Firestorm with bespoke suspension and wheels from an ATV.

To qualify for the record the super-fast mower still had to be able to cut grass! Thanks to two electric motors on the cutter deck, spinning a 3mm steel cutting cable at 4000 rpm. The mower can cut grass at around 15 mph, more than double the flat-out speed of the original HF2620 from which it is derived. The cutter deck was custom-made in fibre-glass, while the ‘grass bag’ houses the fuel tank, high capacity oil cooler and a secondary water cooling radiator.

Based on feedback from Honda Yuasa Racing drivers, Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden, the mower features a custom-made paddle shift six-speed gearshift. It also has a custom-made Cobra sports seat, a Scorpion exhaust system - and a Morris Minor steering rack.

The 140 kg machine produces 96 Nm of torque and can actually achieve a top speed in excess of 130 mph, with an estimated 0-60 time of just 4 seconds.

There’s a 2 minute video clip of the record setting run here – but don’t watch it if you have to cut the grass this weekend with an old sweaty push and go job: 
youtu.be/DFo7ztlMlmg