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Watch Honda lay waste to world's fastest lawnmower record

Honda has been working on its high-performance Mean Mower for a while now. In a recent attempt to take the top speed title, it didn't make its 130-miles-per-hour top speed target, but it still managed to set a new Guinness World Record has the world's fastest lawnmower at 116.57 mph. While the video certifying the run was uploaded to YouTube on April 1, this is no prank. The Guinness run was made on March 8 at the Idiafa Proving Ground in Tarragona, Spain.
To claim the record, the lawnmower had to run through a 100-meter speed trap, and it had to make two passes in opposite directions within an hour with the average taken between them. Guinness also specifies that to take the title the vehicle must still be able to cut grass and look like a lawnmower. The speed was still plenty to beat the previous record of 96.529-mph set by Bobby Cleveland on a Snapper race mower at the Bonneville Salt Flats in September 2010.
The Mean Mower is based on a Honda HF2620 Lawn Tractor that's been modified by British Touring Car Championship squad Team Dynamics. It has a newly fabricated chassis from 4130 chromoly steel and packs a 1.0-liter engine from a Honda VTR Firestorm motorcycle with a six-speed sequential gearbox. The engine produces 109 horsepower and 71 pound-feet of torque - enough power to reach 60 mph in around four seconds. The suspension and wheels come from an ATV, and the cutter deck has been remade in fiberglass. The grass bag holds the fuel tank, oil cooler and secondary radiator. The engine no longer actually cuts grass. Instead, the blade is driven by two electric motors.

Honda Vision XS-1 Concept looks like a sportier Vezel [w/video]

We've talked a lot about the Honda Vezel over the past few months, as the Autoblog staff is looking forward to the Fit-based CUV. It's a handsome little vehicle, that we think will do quite well when it finally arrives in the US market. That said, it's not a particularly exciting vehicle to look at.
Along with the appearance of the Mugen-tuned Vezel at the Tokyo Auto Salon, though, a new concept that's being shown by Honda today at India's Delhi Auto Expo has us hopeful for a Vezel that looks a bit more assertive. It's called the Vision XS-1 Concept, and it's a seven-passenger (yes, seven) crossover that features minivan-style sliding doors. It sports Honda's "Exciting H Design," which is the same design philosophy used by the stylists that penned the new Fit. Unfortunately, at the moment, Honda has provided exactly zero details about what powers its new concept.
As a concept for the Indian market, which is home to some of the tightest, most congested roads on the planet, the stylish XS-1 is meant to demonstrate that Honda knows a thing or six about building compact vehicles. In that regard, we think it's a spot-on piece of work. Let us know what you think of it in Comments, but first, have a look up top for a gallery of images and then scroll down for a brief video and the official press release from Honda.

New Odyssey ads feature Honda Vac, star power

Honda has released a string of new ads highlighting its refreshed, 2014 Odyssey minivan. While the Japanese brand hasn't started bragging about attaining the first Top Safety Pick+ for minivans, it's all too happy to brag about another first - the world's first van with a built-in vacuum cleaner.
In three spots, anthropomorphic children's rubbish discusses the merits of the new minivan, only to be sucked up by the built-in vacuum, which is only available in the top-end Touring Elite model. There's also quite a bit of star power floating around for those that watch a lot of TV. Neil Patrick Harris from Doogie Howser, MD and How I Met Your Mother voices a character in one of the spots, while Rainn Wilson from The Office stars in another. Take a look below for all three ads from Honda.