Photo: Audi
Perhaps the only thing worse than the number of modern cars that do not offer manual transmissions these days is the number of cars that do offer continuously variable transmissions (CVT). For 2015, it seems that the number of CVTs on the road will drop slightly when Audi ditches its Multitronic CVT next year. We’ll call that a win for driving enthusiasts.
Currently offered on front-wheel-drive versions of the A4, A5 and A6, a report from Motoring says that a senior Audi engineer said the development for the CVT had ended and the tranmission would not be used in future Audi vehicles. The article suggests that in place of the Multitronic CVT, Audi is developing a next-gen seven-speed dual-clutch transmission (or DSG in Audi-speak). This new DSG could make its way into the next-gen A4 as soon as next year.
Audi driving behavior engineer Ralph Riegger was quoted as saying that the CVT “isn’t being developed anymore. It served its purpose because it was very good for fuel economy, but now we have this new stepped transmission that is better.”
Of course, it probably didn’t help that the CVT used in the 2002-06 A4 and A6 was at the center of a class-action lawsuit that ended up being settled last year.
In recent years, CVTs have grown in popularity as automakers looked to squeeze every last mpg from their existing powertrains, but more advanced engines and transmissions have come along to negate the need for the soul-sucking transmission. Even Nissan, which arguably makes the best CVTs on the market, recently announced an update to its transmissions that will make them feel more like a conventional automatic.
Audi driving behavior engineer Ralph Riegger was quoted as saying that the CVT “isn’t being developed anymore. It served its purpose because it was very good for fuel economy, but now we have this new stepped transmission that is better.”
Of course, it probably didn’t help that the CVT used in the 2002-06 A4 and A6 was at the center of a class-action lawsuit that ended up being settled last year.
In recent years, CVTs have grown in popularity as automakers looked to squeeze every last mpg from their existing powertrains, but more advanced engines and transmissions have come along to negate the need for the soul-sucking transmission. Even Nissan, which arguably makes the best CVTs on the market, recently announced an update to its transmissions that will make them feel more like a conventional automatic.
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