RE: Audi to do a CVT Transmission?

[tnas@euronet.nl]

"Anders Paulsson" <amp5@lehigh.edu> wrote: 

>Perhaps someone can clarify this for me.  A CVT transmission >theoretically would have no "gears" in the traditional sense of the >word, but would continuously change the effective gear ratio as the >>car accelerates, cruises, and decelerates, between the engine and drive wheels, correct?

Correct.

>Is this what the Multitronic is?  Is the Audi system a high tech >automatic transmission, or a variation on a CVT?

The latter, according to my info.

>Either way, the press release stated that if desired, the car could be
>shifted like a manual (minus the clutch).  Does the car actually shift >then?

It goes to a pre-defined setting.

>How would this feel to drive?  Couldn't the engine just be kept at a
>constant RPM and instead of varying engine RPM, just vary the gear >ratios?

That's more or less what the old DAFs are like to drive. The engine's screaming all the time, car just goes. I drove a 1.3-litre Nissan Micra with a CVT once: it our-accelerated BMW 3-series, but you needed ear defenders to keep your sanity. Amusing tidbit: old DAFs went as fast in reverse as they did forward. I hope they've disabled this feature on the Audi versions.

Tom