Patent ID: 8186330

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: an internal combustion engine that achieves a Miller cycle by setting an intake valve close timing to occur after a bottom dead center timing; an ignition device that ignites an air-fuel mixture inside a combustion chamber of the internal combustion engine, a valve timing changing mechanism including an actuator that is driven to change an open timing and a close timing of an intake valve, an intake valve close timing detecting device that detects a close timing of the intake valve; a supercharger that supercharges intake air inducted into the internal combustion engine; a controller that controls an ignition timing of the ignition device, the open timing of the intake valve and the close timing of the intake valve, the controller performing an ignition timing retardation control that retards the ignition timing when the supercharger is supercharging and a detected value of the intake valve close timing detected by the intake valve close timing detecting device is earlier than a target value of the intake valve close timing by at least a prescribed value in comparison with a situation in which the detected value of the intake valve close timing matches the target value of the intake valve close timing, and the controller setting the prescribed value to a value corresponding to a difference between a target value ignition timing prior to ignition timing retardation control and a most retarded ignition timing at which knocking would occur upon determining the internal combustion engine was operating at a lowest engine rotational speed within an operating region of the internal combustion engine where the supercharger is operated.