By Jake Lingeman, Crain News Service
DETROIT (July 24, 2013) — What goes 130 mph, runs Honda power and can tear up a football field as well as a racetrack?
No, it's not the latest Indy machine, it's the Mean Mower.
American Honda Motor Co. Inc built this unholy ode to lawn care in a response to a Top Gear magazine challenge and had Scottish race-car driver and British Touring Car Champion Gordon "Flash" Shedden test it from behind the wheel.
The project started with a Honda riding mower, into which a 1,000cc motorcycle engine was installed. The suspension and tires were added from a racing ATV, allowing it to go from 0-60 mph in just four seconds. It clocked 100 mph on a test spin at Top Gear's annual Speed Week event.
The magazine's chief road test editor, Piers Ward, also took the mower for a spin.
"Having driven it, I've never been so terrified. It accelerates like a rocket and, like any mower, there aren't any seatbelts," Mr. Ward said.
Honda also told the BBC it hopes the mower project will increase its sporty credentials.
Check out a video of Flash mowing the grass here.
This report appeared on the website of Autoweek magazine, a Detroit-based sister publication of Tire Business. Check out the hot Honda video on YouTube.