30 Years ALPINA SWITCH-TRONIC

Innovation and History.

In the more than 50-year history of the company, ALPINA has repeatedly attracted attention with series launches of innovative technologies.

Dedicated to effortless driving culture, ALPINA relied early on on high-torque drives in combination with automatic transmissions and has continuously advanced their development.

The idea of company founder Burkard Bovensiepen to enable the driver to shift the automatic transmission manually on the steering wheel using shift buttons turned out to be trend-setting. In January 1992, the name “SWITCH-TRONIC” was registered in the trademark and patent office. What is now de facto standard in connection with automatic transmissions was offered by ALPINA as the first manufacturer worldwide in series. Porsche only followed in 1994 with the Tiptronic S.

"The new sporty version of automatic driving - ALPINA SWITCH-TRONIC" was the title of the press release for the Geneva Motor Show in 1993: With the exception of the conventional winter driving program, which enables safe driving on slippery roads, the two programs Economy (E) and Sport (S) redefined.

The S program is also the SWITCH-TRONIC program: When the SWITCH-TRONIC program is selected, the gear currently available from the automatic transmission is retained. By tapping one of the two buttons integrated in the steering wheel spokes, the driver can choose to shift up on the right and down on the left. Shifting takes place immediately and without any interruption in traction.

The gear is retained until the driver selects another gear by shifting gears on the steering wheel - similar to Formula 1 - i.e. the driver deliberately shifts gears as he would otherwise do with a manual transmission and always has the gear available that he wants and not the one offered to him by the automatic system.

The heart of the first SWITCH-TRONIC is a Bosch transmission control in connection with the automatic transmission ZF 5HP18. In addition, the driver is supported by an optical gear display, which - integrated in the ALPINA digital cockpit - shows him the gear currently available. The display, harmoniously integrated below the speedometer, also shows the driver engine oil temperature, engine oil pressure and the rear axle oil temperature. The assembly and installation of the shift buttons, which at that time were still on the front of a Momo steering wheel without an airbag, was done by hand at ALPINA.