Ground clearance has been something overlooked for years by most 1/8 scale designs. The chassis has been shortened for clearance front and rear while keeping the same wheel base as the Hyper 8.5. The bend for the 10 degree kick up in the nose has been moved forward as much as possible to increase clearance. The aluminum chassis plate has been reduced in size, cut on all four corners, and the side guards have been angled up for extra clearance. This is especially important when the chassis leans and squats while exiting a corner.

The ackerman is a very important adjustment and sometimes overlooked by most racers. The Hyper 9 has three ackerman positions for steering from mild to wild. The ackerman is adjusted by changing the ackerman wire in the center of the servo saver. While I am on the subject of the ackerman wire, I found aluminum ackerman plates with bushings and screws bend, brake and fall apart. I found that a 2.8mm wire to be much more reliable, tighter and more consistent. I knew people were going to think the wire was cheap, but the performance and reliability proved to be much better. A great example of when simple is better.

The throttle/brake bellcrank is angled 25 degrees inline with the carburetor so no binding occurs. The bellcrank also allows the servo to be laid down and moved forward for better weight distribution. The brake linkage is a very simple wire with a z-bend, not a bunch of little parts held together with bolts and nuts. Brake bias is very easily adjusted with a nylon nut on the threaded rod end. Another example of when simple is better.

The C-hub and steering knuckle has been reduced in size and weight. The kingpin axes are directly in the center of the front tires. This reduces the shock on the steering servo when hitting rocks, holes and pipes. Front bump-steer has been eliminated with longer front tie rods and better alignment.