Hi Bob,
Yes, it is best to be wary of any AUTO advance setting. The poor reputation this feature has across many brands is well earned.
It's great to hear that your maneuver load-transient behavior is improved.
This is where i think you'll reap the most benefit.
As a general note, investigating timing advance may be easier using a radio or servo controller and with the ESC (if applicable) not in governor mode.
Then the governor, whether in the timer or ESC, can be wrapped around the already optimized motor behavior.
it's a bear when you don't know whether the motor timing or the governor loop is the problem.
again, Bravo,
Dean P.