Welcome to the Hooniverse News! As always, this is a weekly recap of some of the biggest stories in the automotive industry without the fluff or bull. There’s also just a little opinion of mine because I can. This week:
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Honda reveals Mean Mower V2, a 190-hp lawnmower that’s going for the speed record
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Toyota confirms Goodwood appearance for Supra and shows off its NASCAR version
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Dodge confirms price cut for Challenger SRT Hellcat
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Chevrolet also drops price on new Silverado, starts under $30k
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What’s your automotive news?
Honda Mean Mower V2
I know what you’re thinking. “Is a lawn mower really the most interesting thing that happened this week?” Why yes, yes it was. Nothing could have topped this anyway.
Honda UK has had a bit of a passion project going on since 2013 in the shape of a land speed record-breaking “Mean Mower”, an honest to god lawn mower capable of 116.57 mph under its own power. It was a one-off creation with a motorcycle engine and all sorts of race-inspired engineering behind it, but it could still cut the grass if tasked to. Because the record of fastest lawn mower is hotly contested, they’ve since been surpassed by Per-Kristian Lundefaret with a modified Viking T6 at 133.57. Honda fancies a go at taking that record back.
Say hello to the Mean Mower V2, the silliest and coolest thing I’ll write about all year. It’s the mastermind of Honda UK and Team Dynamics, Honda’s British Touring Car Championship partner and the builder of the first Mean Mower. For V2, they’ve pulled out all the stops. It’s been engineered with CAD design, more bespoke parts and advanced materials, and 3D printing. It also packs more than double the power of the original.
The whole thing is built around the 999cc inline four-cylinder engine plus the clutch, ECU, and six-speed transmission that was all borrowed from a Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP. It offers 190 hp at 13,000 rpm in something that weighs approximately 308 pounds. Honda did the math and figured an astonishing 1,000 hp/ton, which translates to a sub 3-second 0-60 time and 35 mpg.
Though it uses the same front cowl, grass box, and body panels as a standard-issue Honda HF 2622 lawn tractor on which it was built, everything beneath that is custom made for this beast of a thing. The chassis had to be redone in T45 steel rather than chromoly for durability and flexibility, which is important in something that has no suspension.
Even the Hoosier racing slicks that are wrapped around those Goldspeed ten-inch ATV wheels had to be custom ordered. As for the braking, it has a system stronger than what’s found in most cars with Kelgate four-piston front and six-piston rear calipers and vented discs to reduce weight.
And despite all the fancy race car stuff, it can still mow a lawn. It does it with electric motors which spin carbon fiber blades underneath the original – but lightly modified – cutter deck. And once it’s done cutting grass, it can run up to 90 mph in first gear and reach an expected 150 mph. Only when they go to reclaim the record will we know exactly what it can do, but 150 mph in something like this sounds possible… and absolutely terrifying.
The only one brave enough to ride a lawnmower up to 150 mph is Jess Hawkins, an experienced kart and car racer who at 23 is currently performing as a stunt driver in the touring Fast & Furious Live show. No word yet on when she’ll get a chance to take the record.
[Source: Honda UK]
Toyota Supra is Coming to Goodwood
Another week, another Supra update. This week it was announced that what we can assume is the road-going Toyota Supra will be making an appearance at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in some manner. A revealing photo was tweeted by Toyota Europe with the caption “#ToyotaSupra is back. A90. At Goodwood Festival of Speed 2018 @fosgoodwood“.
A90 is pretty much confirmed to be the chassis code for the new Supra, which is logical as the last Supra was the A80.
They didn’t mention whether this’ll be a static display or if it’ll be making a run up the hill, but it would be hard to imagine why they wouldn’t take a stab at it after going through all the effort of getting it there. The road going Supra has never been seen with such little camo – you can pretty much see all there is to see with the exterior. All that really remains to be seen now is how it moves and hopefully that’s not too far away.
That wasn’t the only bit of Supra news we got this week, but it was the coolest. Toyota also revealed the “Supra” that’s destined for the NASCAR XFinity Series next season. If you’ve ever wondered what a sleek and sculpted Japanese sports car looks like when it’s stretched and awkwardly converted into a big and boxy stock car, look no further.
[Source: Toyota via Autoweek]
2019 Dodge Challenger Hellcat Pricing
The day after Dodge showed off the latest batch of Hellcats, including that new Hellcat Redeye, they went and confirmed pricing in a news release that just couldn’t happened until after the news came out last week. For those who still care, the “standard” Challenger SRT Hellcat just got cheaper and the new range-topping SRT Hellcat Redeye seems to be a bit of a bargain.
The 2019 Challenger SRT Hellcat gets a new MSRP of $58,650, about $5,000 less than the one before it despite the 10 hp power bump and the new interior features. Meanwhile, the SRT Hellcat Redeye – the one that attempts to fill the void left by the Demon with 797 horsepower out of its same engine – starts at $69,650. All prices exclude the $1,395 destination charge and the $1,700 gas guzzler tax.
[Source: Dodge]
2019 Chevrolet Silverado Pricing
Chevrolet is readying the all-new 2019 Silverado for its market launch and they’ve just confirmed the pricing. Despite all the numerous improvements in both weight, standard technology, and the all-new turbo four-cylinder engine in the base model, the MSRP drops by $700 to a new asking price of $29,795 for a ‘Work Truck’ grade regular cab/long bed specification.
As is typical in the full size truck world, you can easily find yourself spending as much as $54,495 (High Country crew cab/short bed) for a truck with an options list similar to most luxury cars. But Chevrolet has made it easier to get exactly the kind of truck you need with more configurations and in between so you can pick exactly the level of luxury and capabilities you need. Of course, dealers will just continue to keep the trucks with the Z71 off road package in stock…. or maybe that’s just a Georgia thing.
[Source: Chevrolet]
What’s your automotive news?
That’s all I’ve got for you this week, so now it’s your turn. If you saw anything, fixed something, broke everything, or otherwise did anything even remotely car related that you want to share with your fellow hoon, sound off in the comments.
Have a good weekend.
[Image © 2018 Hooniverse/Greg Kachadurian]
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