I worked with pulsed spray 0.045" E70S-3 and 92/8 Ar/Co2 in a high production automotive component plant, and as you say, it is a huge labor savings if you can minimize spatter.
For various reasons, some of the welds had to be run on the cold side, with a relatively low wire feed speed, and correspondingly, the voltage (arc gap) had to be kept short to maintain control of the bead and minimize the irregular bead produced with a longer arc, so spatter was a problem.
On other welds, where the wire feed speed was high enough to produce uniform welds at longer arc lengths, spatter could be minimized.
I guess travel speed would be the third factor, since slowing down would probably allow for lower wire speeds to run with a longer arc, but then slowing down may increase the heat input too much, just like if you had increased WFS to run a longer arc.
Possibly a change in torch angle would improve bead uniformity and allow you to run a longer arc. I always preferred smooth bead profile produced with a push of about 20 - 30 degrees off of vertical.
Possibly a different gas mix is better for less spatter, no doubt your gas supplier would be happy to sell you a magic tri-mix.
there are many possible answers, your wire type and manufacturer as well as gas and parameters would help in providing the answers.
fit up as well as the shape of the item being welded would also be important.
more info = better answers
darren
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