Audi's equivalent of the Volkswagen DSG ’box and BMW's new seven-speed 'M double-clutch transmission', has finally arrived.The seven-speed S-tronic gearbox has been developed solely by Audi to work with longitudinal engines and the company's quattro four-wheel drive system, and to cope with high torque outputs of up to 406lb ft.The system works in the same way as the VW and BMW transmissions, having two clutches that are both continuously active. The engine drives one, leaving the other ready to engage almost immediately when the driver changes gear.Audi claims that the whole process “takes only a few hundredths of a second and is completed without interrupting traction.”The new seven-speed S-tronic ’box will arrive first in Audi's new mid-sized SUV, the Q5, which is due to debut at the Beijing motor show in April.
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