Fiat 'Comfortmatic'

the main hang-up is when parking, unlike a conventional auto with a torque converter, the automatic clutch does come in quite suddenly, but you get used to it, or hit a few things :)

Fuel Economy is really good though.

So really a semi-automatic - with hill starts needing a good handbrake when loaded (or a left foot on the brake pedal)?

The gear changes can be auto or manual. I expect they have hill start assist nowadays. Even a conventional auto needs a foot on the brake (or handbrake) on a hill, or the flat, anywhere you stop really, or it may roll forward or back on its own.

On a conventional auto it is relatively easy to judge the amount of throttle to get it just moving, even up hill, the auto clutch system is harder to judge, but you soon get the idea, just don't jump in and expect it to be like a slush box.

I always drive autos using two feet in any case, including when I raced.

Being a motorhome and rather large, you don't tend to park it in the normal way ;-)

However, I can see getting it onto ramps at the campsite being fun. That takes practice and you can tell the newbies ;-)

I'd heard the fuel economy was impressive, a major factor as these things tend to do 25 ish mpg when towing, as we do.

Basically a robotised manual box and clutch. It will never be as smooth changing as a torque convertor epicyclic auto - for that you need the much more expensive twin layshaft and twin clutch varieties.

Clutch control when manoeuvering is not going to be as good as with a manual clutch or torque convertor, though. Could be a problem if towing.

If you've not much experience of how good a good auto can be, it will likely be OK. If you have, it will disappoint.

My (limited) experience of single-clutch robotised transmissions is that they are f****ng awful. Slow, jerky gearchanges, jerky at low speed. I'd not have one myself, if I could avoid it. Dual-clutch or slushboxes are way superior.

We ran an Alfa 156 Selespeed for many years, until it was punted off a roundabout by a Polish trucker.

It was run alongside a DSG Golf and later a BMW with the ZF8HP slush box.

The Selespeed needed a particular technique. It was never great in auto mode - and in manual mode you needed to remember to lift off the throttle when changing up. Down-changes were blipped for you.

Once experienced with it, you could smooth the auto changes by lifting as you learned when it was going to change / could force the change by a slight lift.

I never had any issues with low speed maneuvers.

Like I say, limited experience. A passenger in a Citroen C4, and I've driven a vile Aygo with MMT. The Toyota was especially bad- lumpy when creeping, and the slow changes showed up the lack of power alarmingly :-)

However, in this day and age, the engine management integrated to the gearbox ECU *should* do all of this for you. But I doubt it does.

And auto which needs a special technique to change smoothly in normal driving conditions seems a big step backwards - given 50s auto could do this perfectly well.

Could be just mine, but I don't find slow speed manoeuvering so easy on my twin clutch auto as on a TC type - or indeed a manual.

No, it's not just yours, you generally need to modulate the brake a bit more carefully than with a TC box IME.

I find it particularly difficult to start in reverse on a hill. Think the problem is the clutch starts gripping at the same revs always. On a manual, you'd use more revs starting on a hill. And a TC allows this by nature.