Methods and systems are provided for providing torque reserve via an electrically assisted turbocharger. A portion of requested torque reserve is provided by intentionally reducing turbine speed of an electric turbocharger by operating the associated electric motor as a generator. The resulting reduction in air mass allows for the torque reserve to be provided with reduced reliance on spark and throttle based torque reserve.

A method and apparatus for continually and rapidly adjusting the output torque of an engine according to a torque demand uses an active tappet to vary the instant air charge in a combustion chamber. The invention allows substantially efficient combustion throughout the engine operating map. Various methods of changing the charge of air are disclosed.

A method for controlling a multi-cylinder combustion engine, wherein the combustion engine has a first operating state in which all cylinders are active, and a second operating state in which one of the multiple cylinders is active and one of the multiple cylinders is deactivated. The method comprises switching the combustion engine from the first to the second operating state, wherein, in the cylinder to be deactivated, an exhaust valve is deactivated after a combustion stroke and an intake valve is deactivated before an intake stroke following the combustion stroke in the closed state, and changing an ignition angle of the cylinder to be deactivated to an earlier ignition time and an optional change of the air/fuel mixture leads to a reduction in a temperature of an exhaust gas arising during the combustion stroke.

A control device for an engine includes a valve-stopping mechanism 14b which holds intake and exhaust valves 41, 51 of the first and the fourth cylinders (idle cylinders) of four cylinders in closed states, a throttle valve control unit 115, an ignition period control unit 113, and an ECU 110 which controls the valve-stopping mechanism 14b, the throttle valve control unit 115, and the ignition period control unit 113. The ECU 110 sets a retard amount of the ignition period of the idle cylinder behind the basic ignition period at least in starting the all-cylinder operation in accordance with an amount of burned gas existing in the idle cylinder in switching to the all-cylinder operation from the reduced-cylinder operation.

A vehicle includes an air-conditioning (AC) compressor, an engine, a belt-integrated starter generator (BISG), and a controller. The controller, responsive to detecting a first AC compressor engagement condition, compares a first AC torque demand that is required to engage the AC compressor with an available torque from the BISG. The controller further, responsive to the available torque being insufficient to engage the AC compressor, engages the AC compressor using the available torque from the BISG and an engine torque from the engine to compensate a torque shortfall between the AC torque demand and the available torque by retarding spark timing and increasing air intake.

Systems and methods for inhibiting implement-induced stall of a prime mover associated with a turf vehicle. In some embodiments, the vehicle includes an electronic controller (EC) adapted to monitor a speed of the prime mover and detect when the speed falls below a speed threshold. The EC is adapted to automatically disengage a power take-off (PTO) connecting the prime mover to the implement when the speed of the prime mover falls below this speed threshold.

A vehicle control apparatus includes an electronic control device that controls an internal combustion engine such that a response delay of the internal combustion engine at the time of acceleration is restrained for a predetermined time period from the time point at which an acceleration demand of a driver of a vehicle is estimated when the acceleration demand is estimated while the vehicle is travelling using a driving force from the internal combustion engine.

A rotational speed control apparatus for an engine is provided. The engine configured to drive a compressor that compresses a cooling medium for air conditioning. The rotational speed control apparatus includes electronic control unit. The electronic control unit is configured to: (a) correct a torque of the engine through feedback in accordance with a deviation between a rotational speed during idle operation and a target rotational speed; (b) (i) calculate a load torque of the compressor, and (ii) correct the calculated load torque through feedback in accordance with a deviation between the rotational speed of the engine and the target rotational speed and correct a required value of the torque of the engine in accordance with the corrected load torque, in a predetermined period from a start of a changeover between a driven state of the compressor and a stopped state of the compressor.

A system and method for providing torque-assist to a rotary shaft of an internal combustion engine control an electric machine in response to operation of an exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) valve to assist the rotation of the rotary shaft. The system and method facilitate periodic operation of the EGR valve to purge condensation without objectionable torque reduction when the engine is operating near full load.

A control system and method for controlling vehicle launch includes receiving a request to enable a launch control feature of a traction control system of the vehicle, the launch control feature being configured to improve torque transfer from an engine of the vehicle to a driveline of the vehicle; and in response to receiving the enable request for the launch control feature, generating a torque reserve at the engine by (i) increasing airflow into the engine to a level greater than a level for achieving a torque request for the engine and (ii) deactivating a predetermined set of cylinders of the engine by disabling their respective fuel injectors; detecting an intent of the driver to launch the vehicle; and in response to detecting the intent of the driver to launch the vehicle, releasing the torque reserve to increase a torque output of the engine based on the engine torque request.