Patent ID: 7917267

Claim:
A method for determining an optimized upshift point for a vehicle with a combustion engine and a manual transmission, comprising the step of: determining a current engine operating point defined by a current clutch torque and a current engine speed, using a control circuit to calculate a new engine operating point corresponding to a new transmission gear based on the current engine operating point and preset gear ratios in the transmission, including calculating a new clutch torque and a new engine speed that define the new engine operating point, evaluating the validity of the new engine operating point by: comparing the calculated new clutch torque to a preset upper torque limit, the stored upper torque limit comprising a predefined curve in engine characteristic graph that is offset from a curve representing a maximum available clutch torque in the engine, comparing the calculated new engine speed to a stored minimum engine speed corresponding to the new transmission gear, determining the new engine operating point as valid if (a) the calculated new clutch torque is below the stored upper torque limit and (b) the calculated new engine speed is above the stored minimum engine speed, and determining the current engine operating point as an optimized upshift point if the new engine operating point is determined as valid.