Well, dustboy, even the best automatic is not going to know you want to be in a passing gear ahead of time. Not until physicists figure out how to place little blackholes and wormholes inside your transmission computer. Then your transmission might read into the signal that you’ll order up in the future.
For now, you either have to lock it in a lower range yourself (in that case, I’d save my money and DIY old school style) or push down with your right foot well ahead of time, by leaving enough space between you and the car in front so you would have room to do it.
As much as I hate automatics, I have to say that the 5 speed automatic in Mom’s Honda Fit was one of the best that I’ve driven in a small car. An extra gear allows the car to be in the right gear most of the time. It’ll hold any gear that it needs while going uphill. Choose the “Sport” version and you get shift paddles behind the wheel. If you are feeling adventurous about VW reliability, I’d reiterate their dual clutch transmissions offered in their diesel versions, as they have the most direct mechanical connection between the engine to tires.