Honda Mean Mower V2: a 241km/h lawnmower from hell

Do you need your lawn mowed really, really quickly? Honda has just the answer.

The Japanese brand has whipped the covers of its Mean Mower V2, a 241km/h lawnmower it hopes will help it reclaim what might be the strangest record it has ever held. You read that right; 241km/h. On a lawnmower.

The Mean Mower V2 has been designed with one purpose in mind - to help Honda reclaim the world record for the planet's fastest lawnmower.

It was a title Honda held with the first Mean Mower, built in 2013, which clipped 187.6km/h in a measured test at a proving ground - a record-breaking run that took place with TopGear’s Stig in the driver’s seat. But then, a Norwegian company upped the ante, stuffing a Corvette V8 into a STIHL mower and cracking 215.6km/h.

So Honda is back for round two, with the Mean Mower V2 targeting a whopping 241km/h - helped in no small measure by its 999cc engine borrowed from the brand’s CBR1000RR Fireblade motorcycle. And, well... actually, maybe just listen to it.

“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,” says Honda UK MD, Dave Hodgetts.

“We’re in testing phase now and everything is looking good, with a top speed of more than 150mph very much in our sights.”

The numbers are ridiculous: 141kW, 116Nm and a weight of just 140kg. It’s enough, Honda reckons, to send the Mean Mower V2 to 60mph (just under 100km/h) in less than three seconds. Supercar-bothering speed, then. The Fireblade's clutch, ECU and six-speed gearbox (with carbonfibre paddle shifters) all make an appearance, too.

Oh, and it will also cut grass. Really; the battery-powered blades are still operational.

So why do all this? Well, that's a little less clear. But to hear Honda tell it, setting a new record will “highlight the breadth of Honda’s product offering, sporty credentials and reputation as one of the world’s most innovative companies.”

Is this the world's meanest mower? Tell us in the comments below.