Tom,I tow with an Audi A6 Avant 2.4 auto tiptronic and have found it to be excellent. The tiptronic enables the car to sustain higher revs on inclines where neccessary, and engine breaking on declines.
I find towing with auto very relaxing, and the clutchless manual option provides greater flexibility.
My previous three cars have all had an auto box with tiptronic or steptronic as BMW call it. The system isn't of much interest in normal driving except on twisty roads where you can hold a gear in anticipation of a bend or incline.
As the previous poster noted when towing it can help take the pressure off the box in similar situations where the added breaking effect of the engine is desireable. In my normal towing mode I find i leave it in auto more times than not as with a modern five speed box they adapt to yor driving style.
I tow with a Merc 270 cdi with Tiptronic and find it excellent. For most normal road use the thing is left in D, but for long hill descents e.g. down from the plateau in Spain the tiptronic is wonderful - just a sideways tap for 4 or 3 or 2 and then back the other way - either by one ratio or back to D by holding stick towards you. Just once I have used it to assist overtaking when - probably I really should have held back - but I wanted to make sure the box didn't change up in the middle.
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