There's no doubt the gap is closing.
But it's still fair to say that no automatic transmission is programmed to shift when&how a dedicated ecodriver would want it to. Some can be "forced" outside of their default programming to do things more efficiently (eg:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...rly-21149.html ).
Thus the manual advantage. (Highway/cruising gearing differences being the exception.)