The Honda Mean Power V2 sets the record for the fastest lawn mower in the world

The record for the fastest lawn mower belongs to a Honda: it has 200 horsepower, reaches 160 km/h in less than 7 seconds and its top speed exceeds 240 km/h.

Honda has once again taken from its racing garage the most absurd yet thrilling of tools: an atomic lawn mower. A machine that has achieved the record for the fastest lawn mower in the world by reaching 160 km/h. Under the watchful eye of the Guinness World Records judges, the Honda Mean Power V2 reached that figure in an impressive 6.29 seconds.

It is not the first record the brand has achieved in 2019, since the Honda Civic Type R became the fastest vehicle to complete a lap of the Mount Panorama circuit.

The task of making this lawn mower fly fell to experienced driver Jess Hawkins, an expert in karting and competition vehicles. However, to set this record, it is not enough simply to accelerate in a straight line: this curious contraption still has to fulfil the function for which it was originally created: cutting grass.

For this reason, the brand has slightly modified its blades, which are now made of carbon fibre so that their weight does not weigh down performance too much, and it features a pair of electric motors to drive them. Furthermore, something essential to enter the most famous record book is that the Honda Mean Power V2 could not lose its lawn mower aesthetic, so it retains elements such as its tank for the cut grass.

This lawn mower has the engine of a Honda CBR1000RR

This atomic mower was created last year to beat the record in force since 2014, when the previous version of this lawn mower managed to reach 187 km/h. To create this 2.0 version, Honda teamed up with its main sponsor in the British Touring Car Championship, Team Dynamics. However, they used computers to make some parts to measure and even technologies such as 3D printing.

An essential part is the engine, which is why few brands are more expert than Honda at extracting enormous power from small engines. Therefore, what better than to fit the engine of the brand’s high-performance motorcycle, the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade: it has 200 horsepower and is capable of revving up to 13,000 rpm.

One of the key facts about this engine is that it weighs just 69.1 kilograms, so the total weight of the lawn mower gives a power-to-weight ratio better than that of the all-powerful Bugatti Chiron. Now that we know these figures, it seems we are not facing any joke: this madness is an absolute bullet.

6.29 seconds to reach 160 km/h and a top speed of 241 km/h

The acceleration time was achieved thanks to timers fitted to the Honda Mean Power V2 by the Guinness World Records organisation. To achieve this incredible figure, the mower had to make two runs and an average of both was taken to obtain the 6.29 seconds that earned it the title of the fastest lawn mower in the world. Honda is already an expert in so-called drag races, so here we can see an acceleration race between the Honda Civic Type R and its predecessors.

In addition, the brand took advantage of being on a circuit with long straights to test what its creation was capable of. The top speed reached by the Honda Mean Power V2 was an spectacular 241 km/h.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLXWwEW6HbQ

Dave Hodgetts, Managing Director of Honda UK, commented: “The original Mean Power was an incredible machine, but this time we have taken it to a completely new level with the 2.0 version. After setting the top speed record in 2014, we also wanted to set a new acceleration record, and the result has been spectacular”.

The Honda Mean Power is only a prototype, but if it were on sale, I would think twice about swapping the keyboard for gardening. The idea of cutting the grass with a 200-horsepower contraption appeals to anyone and, moreover, the trips between gardens would be fleeting, so it is hard to find a flaw.