I'm glad that they added it to iPad, it annoyed me how it was always covering up so much content, even though iPad has a larger screen to accommodate. I even disabled the tab bar, I prefer to use JUST the new tab view, like on the iPhone. Again, the tab bar added to the annoying amount of room being taken up, and I sometimes would accidentally tap another tab, etc. Also, I think the new tab view looks nice, so I like that to be the only way I view my tabs. Feels less cramped and overwhelming when I have many tabs open as well. Too bad the pages reload so often on my iPad mini 2 that the previews don't always show.
If they took away the autohiding on the iPhone and iPad, I would be greatly irritated. One thing that bugged me about iOS 6 was the always intrusive UI on webpages. That's why I used Chrome back then. iOS 7, however, switched me over to Safari with it's favorites view, tab view, and receding UI. I have preferred it ever since, and have never looked back.
For now, you guys should send feedback to Apple, and/or jailbreak your devices just to disable this, I'm sure there's a tweak for it.