Honda’s Mean Mower sets a new Guinness World Record – and it isn’t for cutting grass!
By Dev Mistry on Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Honda (UK)’s Mean Mower (#meanmower) has officially broken the GUINNESS WORLDs title for the Fastest lawnmower, averaging 116.57 mph to break the previous record by almost 30mph.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFo7ztlMlmg
The ‘Mean Machine’ which rose to fame in late july 2013 is more than just your average lawn tractor. Fitted with a 1000cc – 100HP Honda Firestorm engine (That’s a very powerful Motorcycle engine to you and me), the Mean Mower has top speeds of near 130mph. The project has already prompted both national and internation coverage with the likes of The Metro, Mashable, Daily Mail Online, Evening Standard and many more covering the story.
The idea for Mean Mower was to demonstrate Honda’s spirit of innovation, its motor sport heritage, and that it makes more than just cars. 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 from the ground-up, adding an all-new fabricated chassis, custom-made from 4130 chromoly, to provide a strong, safe but very light platform. A 1000cc engine from a Honda VTR Firestorm was used, along with a bespoke suspension and wheels from an ATV.
Ellie Ostinelli, PR Communications Manager for Honda (UK) comments: “The original brief for Mean Mower was to create the world’s fastest lawnmower – and now it officially is, by some distance! We are all delighted to hold a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title and we’d like to thank everyone who was involved in what has been a challenging yet incredibly exciting project.”
The ability to still cut grass was also a key element of the brief, and the super-fast mower still can, admirably, thanks to two electric motors on the cutter deck, spinning 3mm steel cutting cable at an incredible 4000rpm. The mower can cut grass at around 15mph, more than double the flat-out speed of the original HF2620 from which it is derived.
Every effort was made to retain as much of the look of the original mower as possible. The cutter deck was custom-made in fibre-glass, to reduce weight, while, in a stroke of pure genius, the grass bag provides a happy home for the fuel tank, a high capacity oil cooler and a secondary water cooling radiator.
However, the Mean Machine’s journey isn’t over just yet – “We’ve got some exciting opportunities lined up for the Mower in the next few months. It’s journey has only just started so who knows where it could lead to”.
(Written by Dev Mistry – Corporate Affairs Assistant @Honda_uk )
