Honda VTR powers new Guinness World Record

Dubbed the "Mean Mower," a heavily-modified Honda HF2620 Lawn Tractor is now officially the World's Fastest Lawn Mower, after setting a new speed record of 116.57mph (186.5kph) in Spain.

The driver (or should that be 'rider'?) for the Guinness World record attempt was Piers Ward of the UK's BBC Top Gear magazine.

The crack that top speed, just about everything on the Mean Mower was re-engineered, but the ability to cut grass - a key eligibility requirement for the record - was retained.

Power comes from a Honda VTR Firestorm 996cc v-twin, mated to a specially-engineered six-speed transmission, but the big twin doesn't drive do any grass trimming: a pair of electric motors take care of that, spinning a steel cutting cable at 4,000rpm.

Honda says this arrangement can still cut grass effectively at speeds of up to 24kph - twice the top speed of the HF2620 in its original specification.

A high-performance Scorpion exhaust, custom Cobra seat and soft, tarmac-spec ATV tyres are other features. For all the Mean Mower's "new" tech, there's a bit of old tech, too, in the form of the steering rack taken from a Morris Minor!

Despite recording an average top speed (taken from two separate runs within one hour of each other) of 186kph, the Honda Mean Mower is supposedly geared for a top speed of 208kph (130 mph), meaning the Mean Mower could break the record again in the future.

Images: Honda