Triptonic on RS7, why?

[dgszweda]

Many of us have assumed that the Stronic was skipped on the RS7 and S8 because of the power that these vehicles put out and the inability of the Stronic to handle this power, therefore necessitating the need to go with the 8 speed triptonic.

I wonder if this is truly the case. The reason is that 1) the APR tune is putting out more power than the RS7 and S8 in terms of torque and APR tested the tranny with even higher level of tunes with abuse and it held up, and 2) Audi is offering the Stronic in the V10 R8, which again has similar powers to the RS7 and S8.

So is it really power, or might it be something else?

[Ara]

In my experience twin clutch transmissions are usually limited by torque, not horsepower, so while the V10 R8 has S-Tronic with similar HP, I doubt it has the torque of the V8T found in the S8 or RS7. Also, and this is in no way a knock on APR, I doubt APR and Audi have the same standards or testing for the transmission at these torque levels. I don't think it can be disputed that the higher torque levels of the APR tuned cars will decrease the service life of the transmission, clutch packs, etc. These would be my best guesses as to why Audi chose to go with the 8 speed in the higher torque cars.

[TheChef]

I spoke to APR at length about the Stronic unit in the S7 and was told by several people company over they they have tortured the hell out of there S7, launch after launch both stock and tuned giving it more than a life time of abuse and robust launches and it hasn't broken a sweat yet...including fully tuned 560HP/580TQ redline Launch control starts...and nothing.

APR did make some tweaks to ensure safety as an example, so they left the factory launch control RPM settings and also the software is tuned as such that full TQ is not available right off the line but shortly after the car is in motion.

I followed this up with a talk to the one guys that only touches my Audis, be it service or aftermarket and he had no qualms about Stronic and his experience with them over time. VERY VERY robust.

There is nothing universal. its a risk you take. Things can break. Pay to play, up front initially and down the road is always the question mark. Some people have an appetite for this risk, some don't. Its a judgment call.

[dgszweda]

A lot of the VW guys are way beyond the limits, and I think tuners and boards have not seen blown STronics.

[Ara]

A lot of the VW guys are way beyond the limits, and I think tuners and boards have not seen blown STronics.

That's probably true with all of the twin clutch transmissions out there (M3, GTR, PDK, etc.). The manufacturer of the transmission supplies Audi with the specs including max torque and HP. Audi is not going to put that transmission in a car that exceeds those max specs, even if it has proven reliable in the outside world.