The Audi Q5 SUV will be launched in Australia next month and will showcase yet another of the brand’s extremely progressive technologies – the seven-gear S tronic transmission.

This latest evolution in transmission technology offers an extremely dynamic, highly-efficient action.

Designed for use, for the first time, with a longitudinally-installed engine and quattro all-wheel drive, this dual-clutch transmission will be suited to a wide range of sporty models – the latest being the new Audi Q5. The 7-speed S tronic was previously only available for transverse-mounted engines found in the Audi TT and A3 models.

It is a high-tech component which Audi has designed to be both dynamic and highly efficient, another clear measure in Audi’s progressive performance strategy.

Audi Q5 drivers are able to use the new seven-speed S tronic in various modes. The fully automatic mode, in which the control unit determines the gearshifts, offers the D (Drive) and S (Sport) programs. Gears can also be changed manually with the selector lever or with the shift paddles on the steering wheel (standard for V6 models) – an amazingly fast affair. The result is a gearshift that is dynamic, comfortable and very precise – typically Audi.

The seven-speed S tronic is composed of two transmission structures. It integrates two multi-plate clutches that control different gears. The large K1 clutch located on the outside directs the torque via a solid shaft to the gear wheels for the odd-numbered gears 1, 3, 5 and 7. A hollow shaft rotates around the solid shaft and is connected to the smaller K2 clutch, which is integrated into the inside of its larger sibling, and which controls the gear wheels for the even-numbered gears 2, 4 and 6, as well as reverse gear. All gear wheels are arranged one behind the other on both output shafts, in the order 4, 6, 2, R, 1, 3, 7 and 5.

Both transmission structures are continuously active, but only one is connected to the engine at any one time. For example, when the driver accelerates in third gear, the fourth gear is already engaged in the second transmission structure. The shifting process takes place as the clutch changes – K1 opens and K2 closes.

This highly-sporty set-up means that gear change takes only a few hundredths of a second and occurs with no interruption to traction. It is so fluid and smooth that the driver hardly notices it.