I know the Triptronic is on the Q, and the Multi on the CVT.

Now what's the difference?
Seems a bit hard to find this answer.

Thanks!
Jim

Tiptronic sorta refers to the shift nob itself inside the car. This shifter allows you to shift the gear manually. Non-multitronic cars have the "official" Tiptronic transmission, and the CVT models use the same Tiptronic shifter, but without the gears. It's just all a losely used term.

to redline and then upshifts like a normal non-cvt automatic... Opterates like a 6 speed auto... Very cool but probably will get you 11-15 mpg if left in that mode very long... Think I might be in "S" mode A LOT!

It can be set so that it simulates gears, but that is actually the least efficient (both for economy and acceleration) from what I understand. The whole point of gearing and having more than 1 is to get the engine to a rpm range that is best for what is being called on at the moment, whether lazy cruising or foot to the floor acceleration.

The CVT can leave the engine at essentially the same rpm and just chnage the gearing around that. So if the car accelerates best at say 5500 rpm it could just zing the engine up to that speed and then allow the gearing to change as the car accelerates. The S mode will probably be slower although it may feel faster.

Tiptronic is a conventional automatic transmission -- in the Audi case with 6 forward gears. The shifts are able to be felt, the engine speed climbs in first gear then drops when second gear is engaged and so on.

Continuously Variable Transmission appears to have no distinct shift points and the engine speed appears (and does, mostly) rise in a linear fashion rather than the Tiptronic "stair step" fashion.

CVT, thus far only works in FWD Audis. Tiptronic works in quattros (and would work in FWD cars if Audi for some reason chose to sell them that way -- as far as I know, they don't.)

CVT transmissions are said to "equal" manual transmissions in acceleration and economy -- Tiptronic transmissions generally achieve poorer fuel milage and acceleration (apples to apples).

Manufacturers attempt to offset the traditional automatic transmissions drawbacks (generally) by having cars so equipped come with a shorter final drive ratio. The effect of this is to quicken acceleration but at the cost of higher engine speeds which decreases fuel economy.

The holy grail for the time being appears as if it will be a fully automatic dual clutch manual transmission (Audi calls theirs a DSG).

Frankly, with my personal experience with Tiptronics in the following order: 1 A8, 1 A6 2.8 and 2 A6 4.2's, I would prefer not to ever have to deal with the "wall of jello" feeling that the tiptronic equipped Audis seem to demonstrate -- some call it Tip lag, or drive by wire lag -- hell I dunno, it makes the car lurch and damn near stall and can scare the crap out of you when you are entering an intersection after a rolling stop (when the light has just changed) and you depress the pedal and "nothing happens" for 1.5 seconds -- your reaction is to floor the dang thing and then it "catches its wind" and the full force of an Audi V8 LURCHES and LEAPS forward like a rabbit with a hot poker stuck up where the sun don't shine.

Unfortunately, Audi has chosen to force Tiptronics on some of its customers. Hopefully the promised 6speed manual or DSG will be made available on the A4 3.2's sooner rather than later.

While I "got around" the Tip-lag situation by a DAILY reprogramming of the transmission (pretty simple to do, really), it just seemed that a $71,000 car (my A8) shouldn't need to be reprogrammed every damn time I got behind the wheel.

Where was I?

Anyway, hope this helps. If possible, at this point of inflection, get the manual and grin all the time you are behind the wheel.

Now THAT is a informative post! Thanks a lot.
So my "lowly" CVT is much better than the Tip on the Qs eh? HUmm, cool.

because we have the option of manually shifting through the fake gears. The term "Tiptronic" originated from an automatic transmission that allowed you to shift gears manually. The CVT does just that, except they are fake gears built in. And you shouldn't think of the CVT as lowly. It is advanced technology and provides an ideal blend of performance and efficiency.