Technical Comfortmatic autos...

[The Saints]

Hi Folks. Newbie here with a question...!

We're looking to buy a Fiat Ducato based motorhome with an auto gearbox. I've been told about the Comformatic system which I understand to be a manual box with a clutch and some magic bits that mean you don't have a gearstick or clutch pedal. That much I understand...!

My question is regarding a 2020 model that we quite like the look of on an internet search. It's a 2.3 EURO 6D 140..

Will this model year have a fully auto box (as used in most cars) or will it be the Comformatic system. A friend of mine has one and is not too keen on the way it drives.

Does anyone have details of when the Comformatic boxes were used..?

Thanks

Graham

 

[the green vanper]

Hello,

The Comformatic gearbox is a robotized manual gearbox. Both the clutch and the gear change are operated by a hydraulic system. The system needs regular servicing and gets problematic if neglected. However if properly taken care of is not much more annoying than the usual manual system.

FIAT used it across the group giving different names: Comformatic / Dualogic / Selespeed / F1.

The robotized gearboxes were popular in small / city cars, PSA offerred in in the Peugeots under the 2-Tronic name and Citroens under Sensodrive. Also smart had it, it was named Soft-tip / Soft-touch. Although in the PSA cars it was optionnal and smarts had it as standard equippment, but depending on the trim was working like a sequential gearbox operated manually or an automatic one, when gears were switched without any user action needed.

The PSA / smart systems were definitely less problematic because were purely electric, so needing less maintenance. The system used by FIAT is hydraulic, with all its disadvantages (pump, reservoirs, 3 different fluids including a highly higroscopic DOT4 which needs to be replaced every 2 years, sealings, etc).

The fully automatic 9 gears gearbox is neither free of problems It's produced by ZF and has a ZF9HPxx code. I've seen a thread no longer than 2 or 3 days ago... There was even a FIAT service campain apparently...

The difference should be easy to notice in the specification, Comformatic having 6 gears and ZF 9 gears. Then, the gear lever is completely different:

Comformatic:

ZF:

As far as I know the 2020 was the year they made the facelifting and probably at the same time switched the gearbox. A hint here could be if it is a EUR 6d temp or EUR6d final norm. But I'm not 100% sure about that.

 

[PL 8]

The fully automatic 9 gears gearbox is neither free of problems It's produced by ZF and has a ZF9HPxx code. I've seen a thread no longer than 2 or 3 days ago... There was even a FIAT service campain apparently...

As far as I know the FIAT service campain is for "only" 2.2 l engines and 160 or 180 hp. So all 2.3 l engines and also 140 hp 2.2 l engine is outside the campaign. Hopefully because there are no problems with these.

A 2020 with 140 hp should be the 9-speed gearbox.

 

[Giottiliner]

Hello,
The 2020 Model have also a better Engine with Adblue Euro 6 and the older ones without Adblue and Low pressure AGR cooler are getting Problems after some Mileage.
The ZF 9 speed is not best choice for this hight torque Engine 180HP/ 450Nm in combination with heavy Motorhomes. With 140 HP and 380Nm torque the lifetime should be better. All new models from 2024/25 getting the Japanese 8 speed Automatic from Aisin which is assembled in Europe and those are able to handle higher torque I read in an magazine for Motorhomes.

 

[the green vanper]

One thing to add to my previous post:

3 different fluids

in manual Ducatos the clutch is also operated with the hydraulic oil. And there's also transmission oil in the gearbox. So, only the DOT4 is an extra fluid for the Comformatic. The problem is people often think the gearbox is automatic and thus needs no servicing, which is totally wrong.

 

[The Saints]

Thanks to all who've replied with some advice, I really appreciate it.

The difference in the gear levers is an easy way for me to identify which box is fitted.

I'll be taking a look when I try it out next week.

 

[The Saints]

Well, I didn't get to try it out as we spotted another one nearby which is a 2022 with a 'normal' automatic box.
More expensive, but hey ho.
Put a deposit on it yesterday...!