Fiat Comfortmatic Gearbox

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DOH!!! Yes, Jez, thanks for correcting me, dunno what happened there, brain fart probably :D :D
 
Pudsey Bear;n17213 said:
Do Mercedes do a proper manual? or anyone else for that matter.

Hi Jez ;) ;)
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Sprinter, the new VW Crafter and pretty sure Transit's are available with proper auto.
 
Hi Yes the Merc is a proper auto box with a torque converter no clutch 7 gears the new cars 9 gears The VW have the DSG box it has two clutches 1st clutch controls 1 3 5 gears the second 2 4 6 gears giving a vest fast change when you set off the first clutch picks up 1st while the second picks up 2nd so when the reaves is right it changes the 1st clutch has now got 3rd.. The Fiat has just one clutch hence the slow pick up to select gears and changes they should get faster if it's the same driver that drives it as the computer monitors how you drive if you have a heavy right foot it will alter the raves that it changes gears. So when the better half takes over the driving the computer gets a bit confused. Pudsey could be correct in saying that the P \ X is lower as I had a C4 Picasso with this type of gearbox and none off the dealers were interested. The easiest way to see what type of box it has when you engage 1st gear if the car wonts to move forward its a converter if it just sits there its a clutch box as its a switch on the throttle pedal that speaks to the computer telling it to engage 1st.
 
Gear lever might be a clue too ☺☺
 
terry4156 said:
Hi everyone having recently had permanent injury and not been able to drive a manual (left leg and back isues) i chaned my car for a Fiat 500l trekking automatic same system as vans an AUTOMATED MANUAl gearbox and find it brilliant having owned my Autotrail from new for 6 years that is a manual we have been looking at an auto but it took us a very long time to find a setup that we liked when we changed to this van so decided to have an auto clutch fitted to own van alot cheaper than changing van for more info you tube autoclutch to see in operation works brilliantly when you get use to it
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Hi Terry,
Sorry to hear of your back pain as I also suffer.
I was intrigued when reading your story only I've just purchased an Autotrail comformatic and not sure of keeping it. And as you say it's probably cheaper to modify than to sell. I've been a truck driver for 46 years and drove mostly manual wasn't sure whether I'd like auto or not, so I would like to be cheeky as I am interested in the company and location where you had the work done if possible, many thanks Buster.
 
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This is an old thread so don’t know if the person is still here.

I almost went the auto clutch route about 20 years ago as there was a manual V8 car I wanted, there used to be ads for the auto clutch in disabled drivers magazine. I didn’t go that way in the end as back then they would have loaded my insurance too much.

Not sure who does the systems now but found one place straight away with Google:
Auto Clutch. https://www.carfi.co.uk/html/autoclutch.html

Ignore this, I thought you wanted to automate the clutch on a manual vehicle
 
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hi. heard that many problems with the fiat auto box wouldn't touch one with a barge pole but had a merc sprint shift back in 2004 superb bit of kit . cheyenne
 
Swaped to 2.3 180bhp fiat auto September 2022, and all i can say brilliant, hills no problem.only had to drop it in to manual and hold in 3rd once .
 
Hi,

We have the Fiat Comfortmatic Gearbox with the 150bhp engine. It's absolutely fine for most any road, great for heavy traffic, and means you can forget about being in the wrong gear at junctions.

It does suck on inclines, like really really sucks. We were down near Bridport on Sunday and there are 17% inclines that go on for a few hundred yards. You start climbing at 45, soon hit 35, then the first gear change, 25....

Anyway by the top we were doing around 15mph, revving hard, and getting 7mpg. Had it changed down sooner it would have been a lot quicker up the hills and so much easier on the engine.
 
Whooooooosh said:
Hi,

We have the Fiat Comfortmatic Gearbox with the 150bhp engine. It's absolutely fine for most any road, great for heavy traffic, and means you can forget about being in the wrong gear at junctions.

It does suck on inclines, like really really sucks. We were down near Bridport on Sunday and there are 17% inclines that go on for a few hundred yards. You start climbing at 45, soon hit 35, then the first gear change, 25....

Anyway by the top we were doing around 15mph, revving hard, and getting 7mpg. Had it changed down sooner it would have been a lot quicker up the hills and so much easier on the engine.
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Can you not change down gears manually..
Ours you just move gear stick to left to operate in manual..
 
You can, but I described what happens when I don't.

The long and short is that on 99% of the roads I drive the comfortmatic is fine when left in auto. True the gear changes are more noticeable, clunky, than automatic cars I've driven with torque converters, but not as clunky as some drivers I could name who use a clutch and manual gearbox.

Even hill starts for me aren't a problem anymore. I've grown used to doing them with two feet, left foot on the brake and then you take up the slack with the throttle before releasing your left foot when you want to pull away.

Would I buy a comfortmatic auto again ? Yes, unless there is an auto option available with an old fashioned torque converter.
 
Whooooooosh said:
You can, but I described what happens when I don't.

The long and short is that on 99% of the roads I drive the comfortmatic is fine when left in auto. True the gear changes are more noticeable, clunky, than automatic cars I've driven with torque converters, but not as clunky as some drivers I could name who use a clutch and manual gearbox.

Even hill starts for me aren't a problem anymore. I've grown used to doing them with two feet, left foot on the brake and then you take up the slack with the throttle before releasing your left foot when you want to pull away.

Would I buy a comfortmatic auto again ? Yes, unless there is an auto option available with an old fashioned torque converter.
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Re Hill starts, do they not work the same as the Mercedes SprintShift do, I.e. when setting off the brake is held until you press accelerator. I have used autos exclusively since 1978 except for motorcycles and was always told not to use more than one foot. May not be as critical with roboticised boxes but accelerating while braking could damage a torque converter I was told.
 
Unfortunately on my van the brake doesn't do anything like auto hold or hill hold assist.

I don't think there's anything to worry about relating to the two foot hill start. You only need to accelerate while braking for a split second. As soon as you accelerate you feel the van pull forward and that's when you let off the brake. You'd have exactly the same issue of accelerating whilst the brake is still applied if you used the handbrake or indeed with hill hold assist.
 
Been driving Comfortmatic 5 years, and found it hard to beat. The confusion about losing speed on hills? By all means knock it into manual mode, but the little button on the dash behind the gear stick helps enormously, holding the gear for longer before changing, a bit like sports mode. 130bhp will probably not be enough for this box though.
The biggest problem I've noticed is a real hesitation when arriving at say a roundabout at walking pace in 2nd or 3rd, spot a gap and give it the beans. It seems to think twice, drops into 1st, and staggers off. It's safer to stop!
Compared with the Merc Sprintshift, it's a smoother change.
 
hi guys . it all depends on where you travel with your m/h or camper as we tour Europe nearly all the time . just get off the train / ferry straight on the m/way bang it in cruise for about 2 to 3 or 4 hours & we use the m/ways most of the time to get to where we want . then driving on D OR N roads for a short time & our second m/h was the sprint shift 5 cylinder job now that was a good auto box but like i said not needed for our touring needs . now our cars have always been auto because of the traffic stop/starts & wouldn't be without auto but we only drive in the uk with it . driving in the uk with the m/h consists of A1/M11/M25/M20 tunnel & only few free members nights at Brownhill's so it horses for courses . cheyenne
 
just did the Stevio pass with my renault master 4 ton did not like it in auto mode much so drove it in Manual so easy no clutch pedal to mess with just a touch lever just got to get used to it and it to you expensive to repair shunting to much will overheat the clutch no air vents in bell housing going to mod mine put some vents in may help the problem on the road cant fault it drives well easy
 
nabsim said:
Never driven a comformatic but with my sprint shift you don't even know its changing gear usually.
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I went to test drive the spring shift at the MB dealer when they first came out, I wasn't impressed at all another courier bought one had it two months and took it back not fit for purpose and then got a manual, this is about 22/23 years ago, I assume they have updated them a few times since then, I packed up courier work about the same time and got a proper job driving someone else's van.
 
SprintShift was only used on the Sprinter between 2002 and 2006. Was replaced with a conventional auto.

Only test drove it in the sprinter, but did use a much later Crafter with same system. ok in a MH no doubt, but a PIA on a work van towing a heavy trailer in London.
Think it's made by an Italian manufacturer, magneto maretti or marelli. something like that.
 
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