Since the technical details on the Rowenta site don't mention bypassing the auto-shutoff, I doubt that you can do so. For me the problem with Rowenta wasn't the quality so much as the customer support. I had to send my iron under warranty to the only west-coast authorized repair shop, and the shop owner was rude and incompetent. And then the iron quit working again just after it went out of warranty!
Just out of curiosity, are you having problems with the V100? That's the iron I'm using now, and I really like it.