I've heard the new Rubicons will even upshift and downshift when in manual ES mode. You're supposed to be able to control when they shift but somehow the machine will still do it for you. I wish someone would be able to build a cvt auto that can be shifted from low to high range or vise versa on the fly. That's the only downside I see to a cvt auto in that you have to come to a complete stop to shift from one to the other. Not a big deal but it would be cool not to have to stop to change. I guess with a belt drive its just not possible.

 

Shifting a CVT from high to low and back is like shifting the transfer case in a 4x4 truck and not like shifting the transmission. You have to stop first each time. I hardly ever use low except when I'm plowing so it's not a big deal to me.

 

Yeah, I don't think I have ever used 4x4 low in my truck either. And its a push button 4x4 but yes you still have to stop, shift into neutral and then go into low. I have used low range sparingly in my Brute so far. I do use it when loading and putting around in the yard to put it away. It seems to have plenty of power and torque in high range, even in slow speed conditions. I hate how low range limits your speed and it seems like the engine is overrevving, like running a manual shift quad too fast in 2nd gear or something. I got it up to 32 mph in low range once just to see how fast it would go. It might go even faster but it was revving pretty high at that. 18-20 mph is about as fast as I would want to go continously in low range. If conditions allow for faster speeds than that, you don't need low range.

 

Not the 2015 I rode. In e.s shift mode it's like any other. You can try and take of from a stop in top 5th gear if you want. It's not moving to another gear until you do it manually.
But its the only Honda ATV with a true dedicated Low Range and the EPS was nice.

High range to low on the fly is not a big deal since a low range situation does not sneak up on you.

The odd thing about my 350 is it has no low range yet I have not missed it yet. I think the CVT is clutched different to make up for no low range.

 

I use low when loading the quad onto my trailer too. I forgot about that. I put it in 4wd too. I put it back in 2wd when I unload. It typically stays in 2 high until I load it again. There are times when I ride that I'm going slow enough that I could put it in low but don't have to.

 

I went on a short ride yesterday and the only time I used low range on the trail was going down a steep, rutted hill. In low range and 4x4, it literally crawled down the hill with no need to even hit the brakes. I could ride in low range more often as well but I don't feel a need to use it. Maybe if I were doing some really technical rock crawling but I don't really have any of that kind of terrain to ride on locally. Also if I were in a large group I might put it in low as the speeds generally tend to be slower the larger the group. You basically go as fast as the slowest, least experienced rider. I've rode with full size trucks and buggies on trails as well and that's pretty slow going as well.