How does the 2 speed Opti Drive work for shifting?

[Patrick]

If they do make it shift automatically it would explain why the new e-maxx's only come with a 2 channel transmitter.
When it was first found out on the traxxas forums about the 2 channel tx people thought traxxas was being cheap and you'd have to buy the 3 channel tx that came with the old e-maxx if you wanted to have 2 speed later on. Auto shift sounds better.

Hopefully it will have some sort of soft engage. It's not as important with the stock motors, but when I used my brushless maxx with 2 speed I had to let it coast for a while before shifting to second, and even then it would sometimes make a crunch noise from the drive dog.