I would say closer to 30mph in low. I cant say that I ever looked to see what the speed was on the strait away when in low but I never have felt the need to put it in high unless it was a pretty long stretch. I have no complaints with mine and I think the new lower gearing is perfect for the trail riding I do. AS far as ride. I was disappointed with the ride quality, but having no experience riding in any other rzr I accepted this and told myself the expectations were to high. That lasted for about 3 weeks and I ordered new springs from Shock Therapy. IT was a whole lot better than stock but I again expected it to be better then it was. I talked to Ernie at ST and he explained to me the potential issue I had. I made the adjustments he told me and now I am a believer and completely satisfied with the ride quality.
I had no use at all for the stock tires and changed them before I took delivery of the machine. The trails I ride are hard pack, swamp, rocky and rutted out all in one. The terrain changes constantly. My only regret is not buying one 3 years ago.

 

20 mph it will go more but you are turning serious rpms over that

 

Hey Jake, I ride with some Highlifter owners and from what I've seen...

1) The tires are terrible except for mud, all of the guys have changed their tires.
2) The suspension springs are terrible, like all other Rzr's....LOL. You should plan to upgrade.

Overall, they love the HL machines. A lot to like about the HL's and most of the "issues" are typical for all Rzr owners.

I've never heard them complain about the speed of Low range, so not a huge issue for the guys I ride with. (we ride mainly slow rough trails 5 to 20mph)

Again, not an owner of a HL, just my observations and info gathered from discussions.

Happy hunting, hope you find exactly what you are looking for.

 

Get the rock crawler edition and put snorkels on it. Better bang for the buck

 

The only time I am in low is when I have to stop to crawl over the big stuff or when a trail gets extremely technical. Most of the time I am in high.

Cruising on the trails around 15- 20mph in high is not a problem with the HL and when the trail opens up and you decide to tromp down on it, it's nothing to hit 50-60 mph. My 16 hl I I think is at 3O% gear reduction- any more than that I wouldn't want. Not sure of how much the 17's gear reduction is

Stock tires out the window and aftermarket tender springs does wonders for the ride quality!

The perfect machine for me:

 

I had the dealership to switch the OL tires for 30"pro armor's. I had a set of terminators on my rhino and didn't like them on the trails. And I didn't like the factory engagement of the clutching. I thought it was sloppy and wasn't putting the power to the ground. It could've been fixed with some adjustable cam weights. But I went with STM clutches. Back when I was into drag racing atvs I used STM and micro Belmont clutching, going back to what I'm familiar with. And the ride is a little rough, I'm probably going to add some helper springs to it. But the rzr is coming along. I'm really like it.

 

I put shock therapy stage 4 spring kit on my 16 XP4 highlighter. Night and day difference. It added 2 inch of ground clearance rides really smooth now.

 

My machine is not a HL, but I ride with several (2017's). Mostly technical trails. I have noticed that they are very stiff machines, kind of bounce over stuff instead of articulating or flowing over it. Good machines other than that. I think a spring change would make them a terrific machine.

 

First thing I did to my 2015 HL is change out the tires, Re did all the springs with shick therepy stage 4. rode stiff as hell tor colorado rocky trails. I have been as fast as 25-30 in low. If I did it again, the trail edition rzr is the ultimate machine. Bead locks, on 30" tires, winch, full doors, 55% lower gearing, ( thecHL is 33%). High clearance arms front an rear, fox potium shocks,. I dropped a ton of money in aftermarket suspension, tires and wheels to make my HL better riding. Still love my HL and of cours those cool snorkles!