FLC OF AN EMBRAER 145 (E145) OVERSHOT ASSIGNED ALT DURING GAR CLB. RPTR COMPLAINS OF LACK OF AUTOPLT ALT CAPTURE; WORKLOAD AND FATIGUE.

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ON APPROX 2 MI FINAL TO ILS RWY 4R MY FO QUESTIONED EWR TWR AS TO WHETHER OR NOT THE ACFT AHEAD CLRED THE RWY. ON SHORT FINAL; EWR TWR TOLD US TO 'GAR.' EWR TWR OFFERED A R VISUAL PATTERN TO LAND ON RWY 29 BUT WE WERE NOT ABLE TO KEEP THE ARPT IN SIGHT VISUALLY; SO WE WERE SEQUENCED BACK FOR ANOTHER ILS TO RWY 4R. WE DECLARED MINIMUM FUEL -- ADVISORY FUEL WITH 60 MINS OF FUEL REMAINING. ON OUR GAR THE ACFT BLEED #2 OVERHEAT WARNING WENT OFF. WE WERE TOLD TO FLY 060 DEGS AND MAINTAIN 1500 FT ON THE GAR. I CLBED TO 1700 FT AND THEN WENT BACK DOWN TO 1500 FT. THE AUTOPLT AND FLT GUIDANCE CTLR ON THE EMB145 ACFT IS VERY SLOW AND MAKES MANY ERRORS. THE FLT DIRECTOR BARS DID NOT CAPTURE THE 1500 FT ALT. OUR COMPANY SHOULD HAVE ORDERED THE BETTER COMPUTER. THE HONEYWELL SYS IS OVERLOADED. OTHER FACTORS INCLUDE LONG DUTY DAY OF 12+ HRS AND COMMUTE TIME OF 6 HRS. FLT FROM CVG TO EWR HAD MANY DELAYS AND HOLDING. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR STATED THAT HE DOES NOT KNOW FOR SURE IF THE ALT CAPTURE FOR 1500 FT WAS ENTERED BY THE FO IN SUFFICIENT TIME TO ALLOW THE AUTOPLT TO CAPTURE THE ALT. HE DID REITERATE THAT THE HONEYWELL SYS WAS NORMALLY VERY SLOW TO REACT TO NOT ONLY ALT CHANGES; BUT ALSO HDG CHANGES. HE BELIEVES THAT IT IS A DESIGN CHARACTERISTIC OF THE AUTOFLT SYS. HE ADMITTED THAT HE SHOULD HAVE MONITORED THE ALT TO WHICH HE WAS ASSIGNED FOR GAR MORE CLOSELY AS HE WAS USED TO THE SLOW REACTION OF THE AUTOPLT SYS. HE FURTHER STATED THAT EVEN THOUGH THIS EQUIP IS NOT AS DEPENDABLE AS OTHER AUTOPLTS BY THE SAME MANUFACTURER ON OTHER ACFT HE HAS OPERATED; AND THE ENG FADEC COMPUTER SYS HAS CREATED UNWARRANTED ENG SHUTDOWNS; HE BELIEVES THAT THE ACFT IS A GOOD ACFT AND HAS HAD VERY FEW PROBS FOR A NEWLY DESIGNED ACFT.