Honda produces 109hp lawn mower, then lets the Stig drive it

Honda\'s British subsidiary and its partner in the British Touring Car Championship, Team Dynamics, have teamed up off the racetrack to create what may be the world\'s fastest lawn mower.

According to Honda UK, the brief for what has come to be known as \"Project Mean Mower\" was to \"build a super-fast mower that retained its original look, but crucially could still cut grass.\"

To achieve this, Team Dynamics re-engineered a Honda HF2620 Lawn Tractor, adding an all-new fabricated chromoly chassis to provide a strong but very light platform and replacing the stock engine with a 1.0-liter mill from a Honda VTR1000F sport bike to go with the bespoke suspension and ATV-sourced wheels. To reduce weight, the lawn mower\'s cutter deck was rendered in fiberglass, while to retain its original look, the fuel tank, the high-capacity oil cooler and the secondary water cooling radiator are housed inside the grass bag.

The result of these changes is a lawn mower that has a power output of 109hp and 96Nm of torque, can reach up to 130mph (208kph), and accelerate from zero to 100kph in four seconds, \"with an ear splitting roar reaching 130db.\"

The ability to still cut grass was also a key element of the brief, and the Mean Mower reportedly still can, thanks to two electric motors on the cutter deck that spin 3mm steel cutting cable at 4,000rpm.

Honda\'s BTCC drivers Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden also provided some feedback to the project, which is why the mower now has a custom-made paddle shift six-speed gear system, a custom-made Cobra sports seat, a Scorpion exhaust system, and a steering rack taken from a Morris Minor.

Best of all, Honda let the Stig drive this thing. Check out the video below of our tame racing driver putting the kick-ass lawn mower through its paces.

 

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