In reality it should function just like the Spitfire: two settings, auto-lean and auto-rich.
In the sim the lever moves through the entire range (instead of snapping into place in the top and bottom position like it does in the Spit), but i don't know if this means the mixture is gradually adjusted (ie, fully manual) or it's indeed semi-automatic.
For example, the Blenheim had semi-auto mixture too but the levers in the real aircraft did move through the entire range (they do too in the sim): lower half (1%-50%) was auto-rich and upper half (51%-100%) was auto-lean, but the manual advised to set them to the edges anyway just to be on the safe side (in terms of control linkage movement tolerances).
Maybe the Hurricane's controls were similar?
Essentially, it's like having the same car using paddle shifters on the steering wheel in one model or using a normal stick shifter in another model: the stick shifter moves through all the positions but the only effective ones are where it engages a gear.
Now, as to mixture restrictions, lean mixture has the effect of raising engine temperatures. That's why using combat power is better done with rich mixture. Also, throttling way back in an abrupt manner might cause a cut-out in the engine (as opposed to smoothly setting moderate power for cruise and leaning for fuel economy) and that's why the Hurricane's controls were designed that way to prevent it.
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