how is the rubicon "4" wheel drive? I can understand the tranny...riding a direct drive tranny feels a lot better then a CVT tranny, yet I really like the not having to shift aspect of the CVT....but the direct tranny certainly feels more connected to the machine

 

You don't have to shift a Hondamatic either,unless you want to by putting it in esp mode.Best of both worlds.

 

sorry, 3 1/2 -wd.

I wouldn't own a foot shift ATV.

The Rubicon has a hydrostatic continuous variable transmission, no gears and no belts and is fully automatic or you can manually select 5 preset positions (kind of like gears).

With Polaris the machine decides when to engage and dis-engage its "On Demand" 4-wd; "On Demand" when the machines decides and not when the rider demands 4-wd.

It has to meet certain criteria before it will engage the 4-wd, speed and RPM affects when the 4-wd is engaged.

If you're riding along at let say at 25 mph and 5000 rpm and switch the "On Demand" 4-wd on it will not engage until the RPMs drop below 3100 RPM.

I actually prefer the 4-wd CanAm uses with the viscous coupler front diff over all the others.

The On Demand is aggressive and I like that it has no rev-limiter when in 4-wd because when you turn one wheel will turn faster than the other and that causes less affect on the steering. Manual locking front diff are always acompanied by some type of rev limiter that you have to hold in and I really dont like any kind of override buttons.

When you do need the front locked in you're usually in a situation where you really don't want to have to worry about holding some dumb override button in.

 

I have always like using ESP in low range.

 

Earlier in this thread I had made the comment that I didn't care for the way the seat is sloped and it has the tendency to push you forward rather than allowing you to sit further back where I think it would be the natural place to sit.

While riding the other day my simple little mind realized that the reason for that is being a 2-up they want the driver sitting forward rather than on the rear of the seat for weight distribution.

They want the rider sitting forward so that both the rider and the passengers’ weight is not all shifted to the rear of the machine but rather more evenly distributed.

Rocket science.

 

Picked up the 2012 850 Touring EPS today and put a couple of miles on it.

It has the Carlisle Black Rock tires om the OE wheels and I'm thinking this should be a good combination.

No question it has a substantial amount of more power and the engine/clutch is a lot quieter than the 550. I don't care for the clutch engagement on this 850.

 

Let me know what you think of the CVT on the 850 after you're used to it. I'm curious. It's one quad I haven't ridden yet and am hoping to get an 850 X2 in the next month or so.

 

The 550 has a nice clutch - something you never notice.

This one has to rev up and them it engages kind of harsh.

 

Howdy Specta.......looking forward on your upcoming coments on the Touring 850. Have you ridden any other 850's to compare the engagement? Aaaaand I gotta ask Moose, Hey Moose...are you looking at the 2011 X2 850 LE or a possible 2013 X2 850 with EPS......NoJoke

 

Yup, that's true. Couldn't be any more different than a honda.

What's more interesting is the older 550s were more harsh and 850s smooth, now they seem to have traded places (at least from what I read).