Is it 5 gears like the Rancher ES or is it 3 gears?
Does it shift just like the Rancher 350 ES?

 

I has 5 gears. It shifts harder( faster) then the Rubicon but not near as hard as the 350ES. I always found the ESP on the Rubicon would feel like it was slipping into gear 3,4,5 gear the most. I didn't like the ESP on the Rubicon.
I am not sure yet but it feels like the 400AT gets to top speed faster in ESP !

 

douglasssssss-So, get out there and ride the tires off the thing, and then give us an update!!

I'm not surprised to hear that the 400 isn't way faster or more powerful than the 350 (actually a 329). This just demonstrates that even the best automatics are grossly inefficient compared to a good old manual transmission. All that extra HP just gets sucked up running a less efficient system--it's just Physics! The bike I want to see is a plain old manual shift 400!!!

 

I hate confusing machines that have hi/lo 2x4/4x4/lock esp/d1/d2!

why cant you just have a 5-speed manual + reverse? ahh, yes, bigbear 400 4x4!

 

The same machine will feel different to different people. The new Rancher AT I rode will eat our 02 Rancher. Don't know about top speed, but bottom end the new 04 is definitely allot stronger than the 350. You could tell the power was up the second the engine started. The trans in the Rubicon has like 89% or better, efficiency rate, way better than a torque converter style automatic. I could look up the spec if someone really wanted to know. To me, in the auto mode it shifts just like our Rubicon in D1, and in the ESP it is so close you would think they had the same trans. The "gears” seam very close to the 350's, including 1st. In the auto mode when you just jab the throttle it starts in 1st gear and is definitely quicker than the 350, if it gets traction in 2-wd. The one thing I could live without is the Trax-Lok, but to some I know it's important. Our Rubicon does not slip into the next gear in ESP, it snaps into gear. It shifts quicker than you can snap your fingers. Both machines to me shifted identical.

 

Thanks for the input. I think im going to buy the 04 350 ES. Like some of you, I dont like the powerloss of an automatic.

 

The simpler it is the less likely it is to fail, and it will be cheaper/easier to fix if it does fail. Even the 350 ES bothers me.

Sometimes when there are posts about problems with the Rubicon transmission (these always seem to be ELECTRONIC rather than mechanical!), I like to point out that "I never had any of those problems with my foot".

 

Anybody have a link to some shoot outs of this new 4x4? I was just about to pull the trigger on an Eiger 400.