As an aside, the R22 will also indulge maneuvers that an AW169 almost certainly wouldn‘t. Zero speed auto? Expect an extremely dangerous rate of descent once the aircraft has finished accelerating (this in itself would require hundreds of feet) - lethal at low altitudes; 180 pedal turn during such an auto would also likely cause huge structural stress. Can’t imagine test pilots having that high on their list of things to try.
torquetalk - that manoeuvre was part of the standard post-maintenance flight test for a Sea King (much bigger than a 169) so there is no reason to expect that it hasn't been done on the 169 for certification purposes to demonstrate sufficient TR authority/control margin.
Myra - remember that it was the simulation of the TR/ASE malfunction that caused the TR disconnect coupling to disconnect - there isn't, to my knowledge, one of those on the 169 so an unlikely cause and probably the reason it didn't happen to you on the delivery flight
