Sporting a 1000cc engine borrowed from a Honda VTR Firestorm and wearing all-terrain rubbers, the one-off Mean Mower from Honda UK and its British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) partner, Team Dynamics, just turned grass removal into an extreme sport.
Billed as world’s fastest lawn mower, the Mean Mower is a (heavily) modified version of on Honda’s HF260 Lawn Tractor that can make 0-60 mph (96 km/h) in 4.0 seconds – fast enough to put most exotic full-sized autos to shame. This racy take on the riding mower develops 96 Nm (70 lb.ft) of torque, 109 hp (which gives it roughly 100 more ponies than most of its lawn tractor brethren) and has a power-to-weight ratio of 532 bhp/tonne thanks to a weight of only 140 kg (308 lb).
To keep the whole thing legit, grass cutting remains very much a part of the equation. Yes it still cuts grass, but only at speeds up to 15 mph (24 km/h). But once the lawn has been carefully manicured then feel free to take it out on the local autobahn and run it out to an (estimated) 130 mph (209 km/h). Helmet recommended.
Keeping the whole thing from eating itself, Honda worked with Team Dynamics in designing the custom chromoly-tubed chassis. The cutter deck is also custom made with two electric motors driving the 3mm steel cutting cable at a 4000rpm, while that shiny pseudo grass-bag out back is actually a clever ploy to conceal the gas tank, oil cooler and secondary radiator.
F1 style paddle shifters control the mower's six speed gearbox driving the rear axle, while a Scorpion exhaust system notifies the neighbors of your presence to the tune of 130db. The steering rack is borrowed from a Morris Minor and a custom suspension unit and ATV wheels make maneuvering about the shrubs and on track chicanes all that much smoother.
For the rest of us its back to push mowers and sub-10 mph riding mowers as this one-off mod is unlikely to ever see production.
The promo video below gives us a small taste of the mower's capabilities.
Source: Honda UK