First impresions of driving a fiat automatic

[Poppy]

Its good but not as good as the ones on our cars.You can feel the gear changes a little bit but got used to it.Reverse gear very sharp but I am adapting.Van lovely but has nice deep lip on cupboards.As vertically challenged people we find it difficult to see what is in them! Overall very pleased.

[lennyhb]

Can you remind us what van you have now, was it a Laika?

Only driven ours the 100 miles back from Dover and a couple of miles next day. Found changes a little slow but OK, when the engine/gearbox is cold very slow. I''ve had some corespondance with Brian K he say box changes a lot better now it's done 6000 miles.

 

I don't like the small brake peddle after driving on cruise for a while I completely missed the peddle I'm used to autos with a big brake peddle. I expect I'll get used to it.

[Poppy]

Yes a Laika.I drove about 150 miles.Changes very slow at first but got a lot better as we moved on.

[lennyhb]

Also a bit of an art manoeuvring at slow speed as it does not creep like a normal auto, you gently squeeze the gas peddle waiting for it to lurch forward or back.

[Guest JudgeMental]

personally would not touch an auto with a barge pole...maybe in a city car but a vehicle thats spends most of its life being driven in 6th gear on cruise control what is the point....plus I like being in control and selecting my own gear range....

[Don636]

I thought this post was going to be about people's impressions of the Fiat Comfortmatic gearbox, which I would be very interested in, being just about to take delivery of a van with one fitted. Not quite sure why someone would jump in with a comment like, 'would not touch an auto with a barge pole' as that is not very helpful or informative. This post should be about informed experience of owning a van with this gearbox rather than generalised, personal opinions. I also fail to understand the comment about why you would need an auto if you spend all you time in 6th on cruise. Even if you do spend most of you time cruising the motorway systems you must go through town and country at some point, which is when an auto is fantastic. An auto is also superb should you hit crawling traffic on the motorway. Modern autos such as the Comfortmatic allow you to change gear manually should you wish to do so or should conditions be such that using manual the override would provide additional driving control I.e. hills and winding country roads. The main advantage is not having to use a clutch, which I find useful as I suffer from arthritis of the hips. For me an auto simply takes some of the hassle and stress out of driving allowing me to better enjoy the journey. I have had an auto car for 10 years now and they are brilliant. I also have two manual cars. a VW Up and a Mazda MX5 so I can appreciate both options.

 

I would also be in very interested in hearing some more feedback from people who currently own an auto Fiat - good and bad.

[Brock]

Poppy, I'm guessing you've got the Fiat Comfort-matic set up which is not quite an automatic and thus has different characteristics to a traditional automatic [sorry if you know that already!].

 

I don't know whether you were provided with an english copy of the Comfort-matic manual but if not, I strongly recommend you download it and keep it handy after reading. It gives you a guide to the dos and don'ts and also what to do if you get into difficulties.

 

We have the 2.3 130 engine with Comfort-matic and almost always drive in the Auto mode. I have found for the vast majority of driving in the UK this works well.

 

I was interesting that you can feel the gear changes because I thought so - however, my passengers say they feel nothing and it is very smooth.

 

We suffer when venturing into the Pennines [short sharp up and downs intertwined with straights and sharp corners]. Quite simply, the Comfort-matic gets confused and ends up in what I consider the wrong gear and it becomes a noisy, thrashy ride until I switch switch to manual.

 

Good luck with the van.

 

 

[hughman]

We've had the Fiat Comfortmatic on 2 vans now our 3 litre Burstner and the current Possl. I've found it good on both vehicles, though the Possl is a much better drive overall as it's newer, smaller, lighter and nimbler. We've done 13,000 miles in the last year, all over Europe, and not yet had any problems. I keep the Up button on, as it seems to reduce lag when pulling away. It's done everything from motorways to cart tracks, and manoeuvred around very steep and sharp bends on narrow roads in Italy, and I've rarely had to use manual mode at all.

 

As others have said, much easier in urban traffic, and I find also easier when doing hilly terrain, as I can concentrate on steering rather than having to keep stirring the gearbox all the time as well.

 

Maybe it's an age thing, but I certainly don't mind not having to 'control' the gearbox all the time, especially as that option is still there if you need to use it.

[Flyinghigh]

I have a similar robotise auto/ manual on a Renault master, it is controlled by a ECU ( computer) so will learn using fuzzy logic your driving habits and technic , so over time your driving experience should improve,

I have found on mine that the secret is not to rush and then the gear change isn't perceptible, the auto is a boon in slow moving stop/ start traffic but easily changed to full manual if desired,

On the open road I help the gearbox by looking ahead for any hills/ descents coming up and flick into a lower gear before the ECU makes the decision for me, very simple and mechanically synthetically to the engine,

[Guest JudgeMental]

Don...I am obviously not preaching to the converted, or those with physical difficulties. I know from what I have read I would not like it, as I carry out due diligence... but astonished at the number of people who simply tick the options box without giving a demo van a rigorous trial to see if its suitable first! *-)

[Mike88]

I only drive automatics and wouldn't want anything else. Clutches and changing gears are so yesterday . I'm in the USA at present where a manual gearbox is as rare as hens teeth. For once the Yanks seem to have it right even though they rarely drive in traffic.

 

As for the Comfortmatic I think it is about the best of the robotised gearboxes I have driven. It worked for me from day one and I have not experienced the slow changes when cold or new that others have mentioned.

[crbtaylor]

We are on our second comfortmatic Fiat, having covered 20k in 3 years and love it. The only quirk is hill starts, sometimes it changes into 2nd a little too early and we lose momentum. So we generally either press the button next to the gear shift that allows higher revs before changing up, or use manual. We recently went around the wildlife park near Santander which has somw quite steep hills in places and it wasn't a problem.. Would definitely have the system again.

[bigal55]

Am i right in thinking these boxs do not have "kick down" as bogging down seems to be a problem on hills.

[hughman]

They do have a kickdown mode, though it can be a bit slow to react sometimes. If that happens, go manual briefly - dead easy as there's no clutch.

 

[bigal55]

hughman - 2014-05-19 8:23 AM

 

They do have a kickdown mode, though it can be a bit slow to react sometimes. If that happens, go manual briefly - dead easy as there's no clutch.

 

thanks, keep up the posts everyone, very interrested for next m/home i,ll never buy a manual car again.

[Poppy]

We never have manual cars.The Fiat automatic is a little different but I think its just a question of getting used to it.It went well on our journey home after the first couple of minutes.Dealer showed us how to use it but you do get a bit overwhelmed with information! To Scotland for a long weekend this weekend and then to the continent on 5th June.

[euroserv]

Hello Campers,

 

I was out all day in my Comfort-matic van yesterday. As usual, it was faultless and comfortable for a mixture of motorway dashing and country lanes; it was almost always in the gear that I would have chosen.

 

A small note to you other drivers though; If you do want to 'grab' a lower gear quickly, you do not have to push the lever into manual mode. If you leave it in auto and push the lever in the minus direction it will change down (if it is safe to do so) and will maintain it for a short time before taking control back from you and resuming auto mode. It is usually enough if you can see that just ahead a lower gear may be called for.

 

A most relaxing way to spend a day driving 290 miles with almost a full load on board. For the record; I am known by my friends as 'Lead Foot' Fisher so am not very good at getting great economy but on the way to our destination we were driving at high speeds on the motorway and averaged 22.8mpg and took our time on the return journey and got nearly 27mpg. This is a 3.0-160 XLWB comfort-matic registered in 2008 with only 8000 miles on the clock. From experience with similar journeys and loads I have not bettered that by more than 1mpg in a manual version of the same van.

[arjxh56]

I agree.. (when my gearbox is working) its actually a very nice and relaxing drive. There are occasions i feel the gear change is too slow, particularly when trying to keep momentum on a hill at low speeds, but otherwise its pretty easy going. My wife has a mercedes auto and the comfortmatic box is easily as good, if not better! (in my opinion)

 

I haven't noticed any difference driving it with the 'up hill' mode selected, i expected the gear change to be at a higher rpm or faster or just something that would be noticeable but it doesn't appear to do anything at all??

 

If i hadn't had any issues with my van/box etc... i would have said the comfortmatic was the perfect choice, and in general i do love a manual gearbox over an auto!

 

With regards to MPG.. i just accept it otherwise i would never use it! I stick it in cruise 99% of the time and over all i cannot really improve on 19-20mpg. Over the last 2 thousand miles it has averaged 19.4mpg. I drive it fairly sedately around A and B roads, although on a motorway i stick it at 70mph unless the wind is strong. I am never fully loaded, although regardless of the weight and how hard i push my foot to the floor, it always appears to average out in the 19 range.. Up gradual inclines i have watched the instant go down sooooo low that i feel i could almost see the gauge dropping :-)

 

[bigal55]

arjxh56 - 2014-05-19 11:37 AM

 

I agree.. (when my gearbox is working) its actually a very nice and relaxing drive. There are occasions i feel the gear change is too slow, particularly when trying to keep momentum on a hill at low speeds, but otherwise its pretty easy going. My wife has a mercedes auto and the comfortmatic box is easily as good, if not better! (in my opinion)

 

I haven't noticed any difference driving it with the 'up hill' mode selected, i expected the gear change to be at a higher rpm or faster or just something that would be noticeable but it doesn't appear to do anything at all??

 

If i hadn't had any issues with my van/box etc... i would have said the comfortmatic was the perfect choice, and in general i do love a manual gearbox over an auto!

 

With regards to MPG.. i just accept it otherwise i would never use it! I stick it in cruise 99% of the time and over all i cannot really improve on 19-20mpg. Over the last 2 thousand miles it has averaged 19.4mpg. I drive it fairly sedately around A and B roads, although on a motorway i stick it at 70mph unless the wind is strong. I am never fully loaded, although regardless of the weight and how hard i push my foot to the floor, it always appears to average out in the 19 range.. Up gradual inclines i have watched the instant go down sooooo low that i feel i could almost see the gauge dropping :-)

 

Hi arjxh

i think your m.p.g is the downside of a overcab, much bigger frontal area than Nicks van. My 2.2 manual gets a "indicated" 19mpg at 70 mph, so i stick at 60 unless in a hurry. As Nick says the mpg of this box should be similar to a manual as it,s the same box with a "robot" doing the work.No power sapping torque converter.

[crbtaylor]

Our AT Delaware fitted with the 150bhp comfortmatic returns between 26 and 32 mpg, thats calculated at each tank fill, not from the onboard computer. 32 is motorways at 55 - 60, the worst was 26 which was hugging the Spanish Coast. Cant complain as I don't think thats too bad for a 4.5 ton coach built . The Fiat blurb does say improved fuel consumption with the Auto Box.

[Brock]

My test of auto vs manual in the Comfort-matic was over 100l of fuel and the same route. The manual operation came out slightly better. A similar test between own control and cruise control gave me a better figure than with cruise.

 

Weather conditions and traffic conditions were similar but could never be identical. When under manual control for gears changes and speed, I felt more relaxed and my driving style probably reflected this. I felt better able to adjust my driving to take into account the road conditions ahead. I know I slowed going up hill on the motorway and accelerated downhill which probably improved my full consumption over using cruise control

 

The difference was a minor 0.8 mpg for the manual Comfort-matic and 1.3 mpg improvement when not using cruise control. I don't think the figures are sufficiently reliable and are close. I conclude technology is less of a deciding factor than driving habits. If technology improves your driving habits, you will get better figures. As I get used to the technology, I think the figures will change to favour it.

 

 

[mthomson]

I've had the Comfortmatic for a year now in an Autocruise Jazz. I have mixed feelings about some aspects of the way it operates, but on balance I like it. The positives are obvious, of course.

 

The negatives? Well, there's no 'creep', so you need the handbrake for any kind of hill start, even a gentle one. You don't have quite the same feeling of control when manoeuvring, and you notice that especially in reverse. Starting up on a steep hill you can find that by the time the gear has been changed up from 1st to 2nd, the 'van has lost so much speed that if reverts to 1st again - and this cycle repeats unless you use manual control. You have to remember to have your foot on the brake pedal when you engage drive or reverse; I had a lucky escape when I forgot this on a sloping ferry deck and I slipped backwards a few feet before I realised that the gears hadn't been engaged.

 

But otherwise it's great not to have to change gear! You get used to the loss of speed during the lower gear changes. They're not really much worse than when you do it manually, but you're more aware of it when waiting for the mechanics to change for you. Once you're on the move, you're scarcely aware of the changes. The fuel consumption on our Jazz is about 31 - 33 mpq, which I'm sure couldn't be achieved with a sludge-pump type of automatic. If you want the latter and don't mind the cost, the automatic Mercedes Sprinter is a joy to drive.