Summertime means lawn upkeep, and sometimes it can be a chore. But what if you had a ride-on lawn mower that could go zero to 60 mph in four seconds? Sounds like the whole neighborhood's grass is getting cut in less than an hour.
Honda UK decided that 15 miles per hour - the top speed of many of the fastest riding lawn mowers - was just not fast enough. So Honda UK teamed up with their British Touring Car Championship-winning partner, Team Dynamics, to revamp the Honda HF2620 Lawn Tractor from the ground up. The result? A riding lawn mower, called the Mean Mower, which goes from zero to 60 in four seconds, and is capable of reaching a top speed of an estimated 130 miles per hour.
Check out the Mean Mower being driven by reigning British Touring Car Champ and Honda Yuasa Racing driver, Gordon "Flash" Shedden:
To make this puppy purr, they had to redesign the mower from the ground up. Their goal for "Project Mean Mower" was to keep the original look of the HF2620, but make it ridiculously fast, all while keeping its grass-cutting capabilities because - come on, folks - it's still a lawn mower. Let's not be silly.
To accomplish its lawn-ripping 130mph speeds, Team Dynamics and Honda had to fabricate an all-new chassis, made of 4130 chromoly, which provides a lighter, but still strong, body. Under the hood, they put a Honda VTR Firestorm engine, which provided 1,000cc (about 109 horsepower) of power at 9,000 rpm and shoots fire out of the exhaust.
They also fitted it with ATV wheels and brakes, a bespoke suspension, a custom-made 6-speed paddle shifting gear system, a custom Cobra sports seat, a Scorpion exhaust system, and a steering rack taken from an old compact car. The Mean Mower has actually been tested on a track to up to 100mph, and its exhaust has been measured to growl at an ear-pounding 130 decibels.
In addition to modifying the body of this mower, making it into a monster, they upgraded the cutting deck. It has two electric motors, spinning at 4,000rpm, but can only cut grass at around 15mph, which is still twice as fast as the original HF2620 Lawn Tractor.
The current lawnmower speed record is 96.5mph, believe it or not, so Honda's test speed just barely takes the lead - though if they pushed it to the limit, who knows what the new record would be.
Honda UK's Manager of Corporate affairs, Kate Saxton, believes the project wasn't just done to amuse themselves: "Honda is a great believer in collaboration, pushing boundaries and creating extraordinary pieces of engineering. This project provided the perfect opportunity to not only highlight the breadth of our product offering but to also promote our sporty heritage and support our reputation as an innovative company. Above all else, we love a challenge!"
