Mostly known for its cars and motorcycles, Japanese automaker Honda claims to have built the world’s fastest lawnmower. Dubbed as ‘Mean Mower’; this lawn mower can reach 60 mph (96 km/h) in 4 seconds only…faster than a Porsche 911 Carrera (4.8 seconds) and as fast as a Ferrari California sports car (3.8 seconds). It touched 100 mph (161km/h) in a recent test drive on the circuit at Top Gear UK’s annual Speed Week event. The motor company claims that the machine is capable of reaching a top speed of up to 130 mph (209 km/h).
Honda has used a number of auto-sports performance parts in the ‘Mean Mower’. It is powered by a 1000cc engine from a Honda VTR Firestorm superbike, has a sports suspension, wheels from an all-terrain vehicle and a six-speed paddle shift transmission. Honda has tried to retain the lawnmower’s original look by strategically concealing the fuel tank and water cooling radiator under the rear grass bag.
This mean machine has a potential to generate up to 130 decibels (dB) of sound…noise actually. This sound is equivalent to the sound felt near a military jet at fifty feet. It can cause permanent damage to the hearing.
Now coming to the actual purpose of a lawnmower i.e. cutting the grass, do not expect an equivalent faster mowing job…it can cut grass at speeds up to 15 mph (24km/h) only, which is still double the speed of a regular lawn mower.
