Patent ID: 7360515

Claim:
A control apparatus for an internal combustion engine equipped with a variable valve lifting device which switches lift characteristics of an intake valve and/or an exhaust valve of an internal combustion engine from one of first and second control modes differentiated from each other in said lift characteristics to the other of the control modes in an operating condition of the internal combustion engine operated based on one or more control parameters, said control apparatus comprising: a torque calculating unit which calculates an output torque of said internal combustion engine controlled based on the first or second control mode; a torque learning unit which learns a torque calculated by said torque calculating unit immediately before switching from the first control mode to the second control mode as a pre-switching torque, and also learning a torque calculated by said torque calculating unit immediately after switching from the first control mode to the second control mode as a post-switching torque; and a specific control parameter correcting unit which corrects a specific control parameter selected from the control parameters in the second control mode, when the control mode of said variable valve lifting device has been switched from the first control mode to the second control mode, based on the pre-switching torque and the post-switching torque of said torque learning unit so as to reduce a difference in an output torque of said internal combustion engine between the first and second control modes.