Cutting your grass while travelling at more than 150mph may sound like a pipe dream – and perhaps a bit impractical – but Honda’s latest creation could make it possible.
This is the Mean Mower V2 – a lawn mower let entirely off the hooks. Developed in conjunction with motorsport firm and Honda British Touring Car Championship partner Team Dynamics, this grass-cutter boasts features you’d regularly associate with performance motoring.
Based – admittedly very vaguely – on the Japanese manufacturer’s HF 2622, the machine is powered by a 999cc Fireblade motorbike engine, which is coupled to a six-speed gearbox and produces “in excess of” 190bhp. Also taken from the Fireblade are the clutch, ECU and LCD display in front of the rider.
As the V2 moniker suggests, this isn’t the first Mean Mower from Honda. The original was revealed in 2013 and achieved an at-the-time record top speed of 116.575mph – since surpassed by Norwegian tuning firm Viking, which managed 134mph.
Dave Hodgetts, managing director of Honda UK, says: “The original Mean Mower was a great challenge for us and the result was an amazing machine. This time, we have moved the game on considerably to build an incredible piece of real engineering, using advanced design and production techniques and calling upon some very clever thinking to bring the performance and power but still retain the look of the production mower.
“We’re in the testing phase now and everything is looking good, with a top speed of more than 150mph very much in our sights.”
Not only is this one very powerful lawn mower, it’s extremely light too, with engineers predicting a power-to-weight ratio of around 1,000bhp per tonne. For context, a Bugatti Veyron Super Sport produces 627bhp per tonne.
It boasts a bespoke chassis made from T45 steel, which apparently improves durability and flexibility over a conventional mower frame – perhaps ideal, considering it doesn’t have any suspension.
Piloting the V2 will be a real expert – Jess Hawkins, a 23-year-old go-kart racer who is currently starring as a stunt driver in the touring show, Fast & Furious Live.
And how will Mean Mower V2 come to a stop once it hits its target? Well, four-piston calliper brakes have been fitted to the front axle, with six-piston ones at the rear. Completing the package is a set of anodised gold alloy wheels wrapped in custom-made Hoosier racing tyres.
It certainly brings a whole new meaning to the term ‘cutting edge’.
