Patent ID: 7490588
Filing Date: 2009-02-17
Classification: B60W,F02D,Y10S,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A vehicle control apparatus fox a vehicle having an engine with a fuel injection valve and an automatic transmission with a torque converter having a lock-tip clutch, the vehicle control apparatus comprising: a fuel-cut management portion that executes a fuel-cut by suspending fuel injection from the fuel injection valve during deceleration of the vehicle and cancels the fuel-cut and restarts the fuel injection from the fuel injection valve when the engine speed of the engine has decreased to a first threshold; a first fuel-cut duration extending portion that, during the fuel-cut, slows the decrease in the engine speed by executing a slip control of the lock-up clutch; and a second fuel-cut duration extending portion that: when the engine speed has decreased to a second threshold that is higher by a given amount than the first threshold while the fuel-cut and the slip control are being executed, determines whether the road on which the vehicle is presently traveling has a downhill gradient that is large enough to maintain the engine in a driven state after the automatic transmission is downshifted; and that allows to downshift the automatic transmission if the road on which the vehicle is presently traveling is determined to have a downhill gradient that is large enough to maintain the engine in the driven state after the automatic transmission is downshifted.