Mike,
Say I stop at a 4-way stop, I'm on an uphill, and I'm turning right onto an uphill. It's heavy, commuter traffic. The road after the stop is not only uphill but narrow so if I don't get going I'll be holding up a bunch of commuters. The speed limit is 35 which means if I could get up to near 30 in a reasonable time I wouldn't feel too bad.
The overall grade isn't steep. I could probably maintain over 20mph on it if I wasn't starting from a dead stop. It's steeper for the first little bit turning the corner.
Would an auto clutch allow me to get up to cruising speed significantly faster than mad peddling, revving, and squealing?