A lot of us are crazy about speed; from sports cars to tractors, even when it comes to mowing the lawn. If you are making use of a push mower, then it might seem to take an eternity; especially if you have a large region of grass to cut. That’s where a riding lawn mower comes in handy.

There are several different options when it comes to riding lawn mowers. Mowers vary from cost, ease of use, size, to the surface they can adapt to. They are a popular possession for not only those with large lawns but those with little yards as well.

Lawn mower producers are now offering elements that make dealing with your property simpler and more pleasant. On top of that, mowers are becoming more cost-friendly. Many companies are even including some high-quality components and accessories as standard.

While riding lawn mowers are much faster and easier to use than push mowers, maintaining a vast lawn can still take up a lot of your time. That is unless you have the Honda Mean Mower V2.

It’s a new world record

The Honda Mean Mower set a new lawn mower Guinness World Record showing the fastest acceleration from 0-100 mph for a lawn mower at the Dekra Lausitzring in Germany on the 6th of May 2019.

The lawn mower had to prove its acceleration speed over two runs in opposite directions, with the final judgment retrieved from the average of the two runs. For the record of being valid, the vehicle had to look like a lawn mower and also be able to cut grass.

Driven by car racer and stunt driver Jess Hawkins, with a Guinness World Records adjudicator present, the Mean Mower V2, weighing 309 pounds and fitted with a 999cc 1.0-liter four-cylinder Fireblade SP motorcycle engine which produces 190 hp, managed to go from 0-100 mph in an average of 6.285 seconds.

The mower was also taken on a longer run and recorded 150.99 mph as its top speed, which was faster than the 116.87 mph the first-gen Mean Mower managed. That would be sure to reduce the time you take to mow your lawn greatly.

Not just for mowing lawns

What you view as a weekend chore is also a competitive sport. The largest and oldest lawn mower racing sanctioning body is the U.S Lawn Mower Racing Association founded back in 1992.

A company that manufactures lawn mower oil brought it to the United States, establishing the series. The STA-BIL Series runs from February to September, has 21 annual events, and has grown to 50 local chapters with 140 sanctioned races across 37 states. They normally take place on clay or dirt tracks that measure about a tenth of a mile around.

The American Racing Mower Association allows racers to ride any reel-style riding or self-propelled lawn mower as long as it was originally meant for mowing lawns. For safety reasons, they remove the mowing blades.

Riders can modify the transmissions and engines but have to use ones made for lawn mowers. Top speed depends on the rider’s modification efforts. These modifications and horsepower are used to classify the mowers for racing from super-stock, which are mowers with minimal modifications, to super-modified.

Super-modified mowers can have any work done including modifying the drivetrain and engine and removing the governor, making it possible to reach speeds as high as 60 mph. Due to the high speeds, kill switches have to be installed and during a race, attached to a racer by a tether.

Surprisingly, winners only getting trophies and bragging rights and the money shared only meant to compensate for expenses. This means the racers are clearly only doing it for the love and the thrill.