Honda Lawnmower Sets Speed Record of 117 Friggin’ MPH

by of Jordan Golson www.wired.com

For some, there’s nothing better than spending a lazy Sunday cutting the grass on a riding mower. For others, ripping around a racetrack is the perfect way to unwind on the weekend. Honda thought they could combine the two, and the result is a 109-horsepower beast that just set the world speed record for lawnmowers. Yes, that’s a thing.

Honda’s U.K. division joined up with its British Touring Car Championship partner Team Dynamics and tore apart a Honda HF2620 Lawn Tractor before revamping the whole thing with a custom-fab chassis and a 1000cc engine from a Honda VTR Firestorm motorcycle. For good measure, the team took the suspension and wheels from an ATV to cope with the extra grunt.

Of course, this is a lawn mower we’re talking about. Guinness, sticklers that they are, required that the Mean Mower be able to actually cut grass. So Team Dynamics created a custom cutter deck out of fiberglass and installed a fuel tank, high-capacity oil cooler, and secondary water cooler for the radiator in the mower’s grass bag to preserve as much of the look of the original tractor as possible.

There’s a six-speed paddle shift tranny, along with a custom racing seat and exhaust, and since they couldn’t find the right size steering rack for something this small, they pilfered one from a Morris Minor. All that adds up to a mower geared for a top speed in excess of 130 mph with the 109 hp 1000cc engine propelling its 308 pounds from 0-60 in just 4 seconds.

Two electric motors were installed on the cutter deck, with 3mm steel cable spinning at 4000 rpm making to keep the judges happy. It can actually cut grass at up to 15 mph, more than double the speed of the machine on which it was based.

The world record was set at the IDIADA Proving Ground, in Tarragona, Spain on a 2km stretch of tarmac. Top Gear writer Piers Ward was behind the wheel, averaging 116.57 mph over two runs in opposite directions through a 100 meter speed trap, crushing the previous lawn mower speed record of 87.83 mph.

Ward wrote that the mower was stable, with “no wobbles, no drama.” Sounds safe enough, even if it doesn’t have a seat belt.

Source;
http://www.wired.com/2014/04/honda-mower-record/

BBC TopGear Magazine and Honda Unleash the Stig on a 130mph Ride-on Lawnmower

 
LONDON, July 17, 2013 /CNW/ - In response to an as yet untapped requirement for extreme lawn-care equipment, TopGear Magazine has teamed up with Honda to produce just that - the MeanMower.

Loosely based on the Honda HF2620 ride-on, the MeanMower was stripped and re-built by Honda's British Touring Car experts at Team Dynamics, adding a spaceframe chassis, a 1000cc Honda VTR Firestorm motorbike engine, bespoke suspension and tyres from a racing ATV.

But despite looking like the standard mower, the Honda now produces 109bhp and 71lb ft - making it theoretically capable of zero to 60mph in under four seconds, and a record-breaking top speed of around 130mph. And it still cuts grass.

The mower managed 100.03mph on track at TopGear Magazine's annual Speed Week event - a tyre-shredding test of 14 of the year's best performance machines. Watch the Stig drive it here: http://www.topgear.com/uk/car-news/top-gear-magazine-speed-week-2013-7-17
 
See the full story in the latest issue of TopGear Magazine, available in print and on iPad, on sale today. Or go to http://www.topgear.com/speedweek.

"With the TopGear lawn to mow and a Stig on the staff, it seemed perfectly normal to work with Honda to create this thing," said BBC TopGear Magazine's Piers Ward. "Though I have to say, having driven it, I've never been so terrified. It accelerates like a rocket and, like any mower, there aren't any seatbelts."

Ellie Ostinelli, Honda (UK) said; "Our brief was very straightforward - we wanted a super-fast lawnmower which retained the look of a mower, but above all else, it needed to still cut grass. Honda is a great believer in pushing boundaries…and we love a challenge!"

Team Dynamics team manager Peter Crolla added, "To our knowledge, this has never been done before, certainly using this mower/engine and Stig combination. Our biggest engineering challenge was the need to retain the look of the lawn mower and the ability to still cut grass. The engine's low weight and exceptionally accessible performance has been the key ingredient for the project."

Editor's notes:
BBC Top Gear Magazine (UK) has a combined print and digital circulation of 155,017 (ABC Jan-Jul 12). With a market share of 35.8%, BBC TopGear Magazine has more than one in every three of copies sold in the total core motoring market.

Source;
http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1199803/bbc-topgear-magazine-and-honda-unleash-the-stig-on-a-130mph-ride-on-lawnmower