HPI Spring Rate Chart

This is a chart of the different weight shock springs that you can get for the cyclone s. The springs that come with the car are 8.6 weight.

RC Handling

If your car isn't handling properly at the track that you race and you want to know why, then you might want to have a look at the link below.
RC Car Handling

Stock Ratios

Here is a table of ratios for racing in the stock class. The one in red is the one that I was running, whereas the one in blue is the one that I am running.

Cyclone S Stock Setup

For my setup, I am running a gear ratio of 4.206 or 4.254, equaling a 88t Spur to 51t pinion or a 89t spur to a 51t pinion. I am going to try the latter gear ratio at club next weekend to see if it is competitive, and hoping so, it will give slightly more run time, as even with the use of the SSS Racing Motor Cooler, (site to be online soon), It is still a little to hot at the end of the race.

The Camber is set to 1 degree all round, and the toe in is set to 0 on the front and 1 at the back. Front shocks: Top, third hole in, Bottom, 2nd hole in. Back Shocks: Top: 3rd hole in, Bottom: Middle Hole.

Shock Oil. All Shocks are filled with the standard shock oil supplied with the car. If I can find out the weight of this, I may go down slightly to get better cornering.

Tires: These are currently HB Standard slicks, but probably going to get some 26 degree slicks.

Weight. My weight, all 58 grams of it, is all positioned at the front of the car.

Motor: Johnson RS540, with a 3 racing fan Heatsink

Speed controller: Mtroniks Tempo11. Soon to be upgraded to a IP6 Sport as the Tempo11 is going into my F1.

Radio gear: 27 MHZ with Futaba 2PL hand piece and HPI micro receiver.

Servo: Futaba S3003, Possibly being upgraded to Tower pro MG995 metal geared.

Well thats about it for the stock setup, Batteries are the same as they always have been, Sanyo 1300 SCR's and if I need another pack I have a Panasonic 1400 SCR side by side.

Cyclone S Stock Setup

Here is a setup sheet detailing the basic stock setup for a Cyclone S at WRCCC. This setup is what suits my driving style and also what I think makes the car handle well. On the handpiece, the EPA is set to 100% out of a possible 120% and the Dual Rate is set to 58% of a possible 120%. Throttle is set to Maximum. There is also a heatsink and fan on the motor to keep it cool.

Regular Maintenance

In order to keep your car in top racing order, you need to regularly clean the motor and clean the diffs after ever 10 runs. The Cyclone S needs these regular diff rebuilds because of where the diffs are located and the fact that they have no cover on them at all.

Fortunately the diffs are easy to get to and rebuild and it should take only about 15 minutes per diff to get it out of the car, rebuild it and reinsert it. The Cyclone S suffers from the problem that the plastic outdrives are known to melt, and also for the middle shaft that makes the diff spin snapping, leaving you with a 2wd drive car.

The other reason for regular diff rebuilds is the fact that once the grease evaporates out of the diff, or is absorbed into the plastic, it tends to get dirt inside it. This leads to worn diff pulleys and the your diff balls being flat spotted.

Therefore when rebuilding differentials you need to make sure that they are completely clean and are free of any grit.

Cyclone S Tips: Toe In. How it affects your stock car.

The Cyclone S comes stock standard with 3.0 degrees toe in on the rear and 0 degrees on the front. Whilst this is good for Pro-Stock or Mod, it slows you down to much in the corners in Stock. What you want, is the minimum toe in through out the car. This will give you maximum steering and allow you to get round the corners quicker and without losing to much speed. If you have toe in on the rear or front of the chassis it will slow you down! This is useful in Pro-Stock and Mod because it means that you have to slow down less for the corners and therefore lose less speed on the other side of the of the corners. Currently my car is running with 0 degrees on the rear and 3 degrees on the front.

Cyclone S Tips: Stock Racing, How to do it Cheaply

To race in the stock class, you are required to have up to 1500mah sub c batteries with a nominal voltage of each cell being no higher than 1.2v. I recommend that you get the side by side 1300 cells from Speedi Models in Auckland, or Frankton Models in Hamilton. These cells mean that you can easily discharge them after each race day, in a discharger which will discharge each individual cell, making them last much longer.

You are also required to have a "stock" motor, which is often called a silver can motor. The part number for this is: #53689 Johnson RS540 motor. This motor is sold under the Tamiya brand name.


This motor will set you back $30 but if it is run in properly and not over geared, it will last several seasons.

Motor Cooling during the race, can be achieved via a heatsink with a fan, or a heatsink without a fan. Otherwise, take a look at my guide on building a thermal electric cooler here.

Cyclone S Tips: Mtroniks Tempo 11 Speed Controller

The Mtroniks Tempo 11 Electronic Speed Controller is the best in it's price range. It is a speed control with down to 11 turn capability and forwards only. It will run successfully in any chassis and with any motor down to 11 turns. The Speed Control is one which is easy to set up and use and has full punch control, which makes it useful when wanting to get a faster start of the grid, or when you want to try to counter wheel spin.

I am currently running one in my Cyclone S and it is running a Reedy Stockstar, which is a 27t 24 degree fixed end bell motor.

Setting Up A Cyclone S

Throughout this article you will find many Cyclone S tips. They should hopefully help you to setup a Hot Bodies Cyclone S so that you can race it in Pro-Stock. I personally find that a good gear ratio to run for the Cyclone is with a 27 turn 24 degree motor is around 6.5. To achieve this with the stock spur, you will need a 36 tooth pinion. Or if you do what I did, because I only had a 37 tooth pinion, I needed to get a 99 tooth spur to get a ratio of 6.52, and I am currently running a Reedy Stock Star motor. It is running well, although I do not know how many rpm's it is producing. The Shocks are running standard shock oil and the front shocks are in the second hole in on the top and the first hole on the bottom. The Rear shocks are in the second hole in on the top and the second hole on the bottom. I am currently running ATS 33 Shore foams all round with 1 degree negative camber on the front end, as it was getting to much grip and not steering properly. However when I race indoors I will change to Frewer Pink Fronts and Gold Rears or HPI Super Soft Racing Slicks when we race indoors on Astro-Turf and if running Frewer Tyres I will move the back shocks in one hole. Another Cyclone S tip is to make sure that all of your screws are tightened before and after every race. The worst thing that can happen is for you to lose a screw which you need to keep part of the car together.

Another tip is to upgrade the stock differentials to the metal Cyclone ones as they tend to heat up and seize together.

I am currently running a Mtroniks Viper Tempo11 Speed Controller which can handle motors down to 11 turns and will allow room to move up to a class which is higher up using a faster motor. Another Cyclone S tip is to run a motor heatsink, for example, there is a 3 racing motor fan on the motor and a cooler master computer cpu fan to help suck air in to cool the heat sink. This will help to keep your motor cooler, and will lengthen it's life span.

Come back soon for More Cyclone S Tips.