HONDA'S MEAN MOWER V2 BREAKS COVER

Honda (UK) is out to reclaim the crown for the world’s fastest lawn mower with Mean Mower V2 and a target speed of 150mph in its sights.

The company have now released a new video which shows the machine in action for the first time.

Built by Team Dynamics, Honda’s British Touring Car Championship partner and the team behind the original Mean Mower that took the record for the world’s fastest lawn mower in 2014, the company says development has moved on to a whole new level. Now using CAD design, more bespoke parts, advanced materials, and 3D printing, it now packs almost double the power of the original, with the development team estimating it is capable of speeds in excess of 150mph.

Dave Hodgetts, Managing Director, Honda (UK), said, “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 testing phase now and everything is looking good, with a top speed of more than 150mph very much in our sights.”

A key part of the brief was to retain the look of a lawn mower - in this case the Honda HF 2622 lawn tractor -- which it does by carrying over its front cowl, grass box and body panels. The second essential element is the ability to still cut grass, which it also still does, thanks to slight revisions to the cutter deck to house the chain running to the rear tyres and the two batteries required to power electric motors which spin carbon fibre blades to mow.