The drift compensation should remain valid so long as the orientation of the device is the same and ambient temperature is *roughly* the same (a difference of a couple of degrees doesn't seem to make much difference to me). But with the auto-recentering turned off it will be all the more important to get the drift compensation accurate.
To be honest, I think a device with it disabled will be more hassle, you'll be pressing that mapped button in Opentrack all the bloody time (well, you know what I mean). I think what's needed is the auto-centering feature is just toned down, so that it's not so immediate, but averaged out over a longer period of time. Easy enough a change