# Fiat Comfortmatic Transmission - first impressions



## roger-the-lodger (Apr 21, 2008)

Just took delivery of new Bessie E560 with Multijet 160 (3 litre) engine and Comfortmatic transmission. As far as I can see there are still not too many 'vans about with Comfortmatic , so I thought people might be interested in my early impressions:

1. Fuel consumption: Pleasantly surprised! I've done 3 quite long runs between complete fills and was careful on each fill to get as close as I could to brim full. Details:

Run 1: Mixed m'way, main roads, some very hilly terrain, 425mls, used 73.7l, mpg = 26.22

Run 2: Mostly m'way, few hills, 382mls, used 62l, mpg = 28.01

Run 3: 50/50 m'way and main roads, moderately hilly, towing Smart car on trailer (1100Kg), 369mls, 63l, mpg = 26.63

M'way driving speeds: 60-70mph on runs 1 & 2; 50mph on run 3. In Auto throughout, manual mode not used, except occasionally on hills to alter shift pattern (later for up, earlier for down).

2. Driving experience: Impressive. Slight lag in changing up 1 to 2. No changes are exactly slick. Any lag in changing is insufficient to be either embarrassing or dangerous. Very "relaxed" pattern; changes up early, down late. Encourages relaxed driving style; I find this well suited to the vehicle. I suspect that if I used manual shifting the fuel economy would suffer. Very easy to use shift control including change between auto and manual. Virtually impossible to stall vehicle. With the 3l engine this is a superb, relaxing drive with lots of torque when needed.

3. Forward ratios: seem well-chosen, spacing OK. 6th nicely high and you get there quite quickly; once "in the cruise" the vehicle stays in 6th for most of the time.

4. Reverse: absolutely fine, no sign of dreaded judder, but have used only moderate slopes for this. Subjectively the ratio "feels" a bit too high, however.

5. Documentation in vehicle handbook: Non-existent. Vehicle handbook supplied by Fiat describes manual transmission only; no mention of Comfortmatic at all; no description of controls (fortunately it's easy to work out what to do!).

Anyone else with one of these who would like to post some impressions?

Roger


----------



## Penelope (May 9, 2005)

Hi Roger-the-Lodger.

Glad you like your Comfortmatic Transmission. I too have this set up and I am really Impressed with It. If you want the Comfortmatic Gearbox Manual PM me your email address and I will send It to you.

Les


----------



## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Robotised Gearbox*

Hello,

We have the SprintShift and it too hesitates from 1st-2nd. 1st is more like a crawler gear so starting in second would be better but there is no option either in Manual or Auto to allow you to do this.

I drove the Renault Robotised box and that too had the same lag though, to a lesser extent. On the Renault there is a * button on the dash. If you select this it will pull-away in 2nd. However, I think it changes the rest of the shift patterns too.

Overall, I would prefer to see more true Autos. As far as I am aware, there is only Mercedes who have such a thing.

Trev.


----------



## roger-the-lodger (Apr 21, 2008)

Hi Trev,

I wouldn't over-emphasise the 1-2 lag on the Comfortmatic - it's quite slight. The Sprint Shift was notorious for this and although I've never driven a Sprint Shift, I do suspect that Fiat have made a big improvement in this technology with Comfortmatic in several ways.

I did drive a Sprinter Panel Van conversion MH on hire in NZ and it had conventional auto. It was a fine conventional auto but quite honestly I think I prefer the Comfortmatic. The NZ van was seriously thirsty (around 20 mpg). Whereas 28 mpg from a 3l engine powering a 7m long 3.5t MH is a commendable figure, isn't it? And that's without any conscious attempt at economy driving style - just using auto mode throughout.

The Comfortmatic has the facility to start in 1st or 2nd at your choice and that can be chosen with either auto or manual mode; it doesn't change the ratios. But there's also a button known as the UP button which will alter the auto gear-changing points for use in hilly terrain.

I only know any of this because Les has mailed me the vehicle handbook supplement that should have been in my documentation pack but wasn't! :roll: 

Thanks, Les.

Roger


----------



## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Comfortmatic*



roger-the-lodger said:


> Hi Trev,
> 
> I wouldn't over-emphasise the 1-2 lag on the Comfortmatic - it's quite slight. The Sprint Shift was notorious for this and although I've never driven a Sprint Shift, I do suspect that Fiat have made a big improvement in this technology with Comfortmatic in several ways.
> 
> ...


Yes,

Mercedes have made some changes to their SprintShift. They renamed it ShiftMatic and passed it on (or down) to Volkswagen.

Trev.


----------



## tude (Feb 9, 2008)

*auto gearbox 3.0*

hi there i run a kontiki3.0 manuel i struggle to get 25mpg what does yours rev at when doin 60mph mines 2000 revs


----------



## roger-the-lodger (Apr 21, 2008)

Tude, I get about the same, maybe a bit lower rpm, around 1900.

My speedo over-reads about 8-10% according to SatNav displayed speed, so at 60 indicated on speedo, SatNav says 55 or 56. 1900 rpm is at speedo 60mph.

Roger


----------

