Injection molding of rubber compounds is a widely used method for manufacturing different rubber products, from consumer parts to seals for harsh environments. Yet its cycle time is tremendously higher than in injection molding of thermoplastics, as rubbers need several minutes of curing. Increasing the mold temperature would shorten the curing time, however, this leads to a premature start of the curing reaction which may cause severe quality and manufacturing problems. To avoid premature curing and to reduce the cycle time significantly Rapid Heat Cycle Molding (RHCM) may used to first, cool the mold in injection phase (until the cavity is filled) and second, to raise the mold temperature above what would be possible in isothermal conditions. In this study, this approach is evaluated. Employing design of experiments and injection molding simulation, both 3D transient temperature distributions in the mold and cycle time are analyzed for two industrial rubber compounds differing in incubation time and reaction rate. Injection molding experiments were conducted to determine the curing degree as a function of achievable heating and cooling rates at the cavity wall. Moreover, simulation accuracy was assessed. To summarize, RHCM is, in terms of minimal cycle time and constant part quality, most applicable to rubber compounds with short incubation time and low reaction rate.