Patent ID: 7219634

Claim:
A control device for a multi-cylinder spark ignition engine having cylinders arranged to perform a cycle consisting of intake, compression, expansion and exhaustion strokes with prescribed phase differences, characterized in that a gas flow path is constituted in a two-cylinder connected condition, at least in a low load, low rotational speed region, such that burnt gas exhausted from a preceding cylinder which is a cylinder on the exhaust stroke side in a pair of cylinders whose exhaustion stroke and intake stroke overlap is directly introduced into a following cylinder which is a cylinder on the intake stroke side through an inter-cylinder gas passage and gas exhausted from this following cylinder is fed to an exhaust passage; and said control device comprising combustion controller that controls combustion in each cylinder such that at least in part of the operating region in which said two-cylinder connected condition is produced, combustion is performed by forced ignition in said preceding cylinder in a condition at an air/fuel ratio larger by a prescribed amount than the stoichiometric air/fuel ratio while fuel is supplied to the following cylinder in an amount corresponding to the burnt gas generated by combustion in this preceding cylinder, and combustion is performed by compression self-ignition in the following cylinder.