In gear-shift control apparatus and method for a vehicular transmission, a variator which is interposed between an engine and driving wheels and which is capable of modifying a gear (speed) ratio continuously; a sub transmission which is installed in series with the variator and which is capable of switching a plurality of gear-shift stages through a replacement of engagement elements; and a transmission controller which performs a gear ratio control for the variator and a gear-shift stage control for the sub transmission are installed. During a deceleration through a second speed stage of the sub transmission, when the variator is a state in which the variator is at a lowest gear (speed) ratio, a down-shift in which the sub transmission is forced to perform the gear-shift from a second speed stage to a first speed stage, with the variator maintained at the lowest gear (speed) ratio.

In gear-shift control apparatus and method for a vehicular transmission, a variator which is interposed between an engine and driving wheels and which is capable of modifying a gear (speed) ratio continuously; a sub transmission which is installed in series with the variator and which is capable of switching a plurality of gear-shift stages through a replacement of engagement elements; and a transmission controller which performs a gear ratio control for the variator and a gear-shift stage control for the sub transmission are installed. During a deceleration through a second speed stage of the sub transmission, when the variator is a state in which the variator is at a lowest gear (speed) ratio, a down-shift in which the sub transmission is forced to perform the gear-shift from a second speed stage to a first speed stage, with the variator maintained at the lowest gear (speed) ratio.

A clutch torque control method for a dual clutch transmission (DCT) vehicle may include a shift initiation determining step of determining whether power-on downshift in which a driver steps on an accelerator pedal to change a current shift stage to a lower shift stage is initiated, and a torque correcting step of correcting basic control torque according to torque-stroke (TS) curve characteristics for controlling a disengagement-side clutch within a real shift range in which a number of rotations of an engine is changed with observer torque calculated by a torque observer when the power-on downshift is initiated, and determining the corrected basic control torque into control torque of the disengagement-side clutch.

A clutch torque control method for a dual clutch transmission (DCT) vehicle may include a shift initiation determining step of determining whether power-on downshift in which a driver steps on an accelerator pedal to change a current shift stage to a lower shift stage is initiated, and a torque correcting step of correcting basic control torque according to torque-stroke (TS) curve characteristics for controlling a disengagement-side clutch within a real shift range in which a number of rotations of an engine is changed with observer torque calculated by a torque observer when the power-on downshift is initiated, and determining the corrected basic control torque into control torque of the disengagement-side clutch.

A vehicle control apparatus for a vehicle including an automatic transmission having a torque converter provided with a lock-up clutch, and including a kick-down controller that performs kick-down control to change a transmission ratio to a low side and to increase a number of engine revolutions based on a kick-down request in accordance with an accelerator operation and a lock-up controller that performs lock-up disengagement control based on the kick-down request to set the lock-up clutch to a disengaged state according to meeting of a disengagement condition. When the kick-down request not during the kick-down control is called a normal kick-down request and the kick-down request during the kick-down control is called a second-time kick-down request, the lock-up controller performs lock-up disengagement control according to the second-time kick-down request based on the disengagement condition which is more eased than the disengagement condition used for the normal kick-down request.

A vehicle control apparatus for a vehicle including an automatic transmission having a torque converter provided with a lock-up clutch, and including a kick-down controller that performs kick-down control to change a transmission ratio to a low side and to increase a number of engine revolutions based on a kick-down request in accordance with an accelerator operation and a lock-up controller that performs lock-up disengagement control based on the kick-down request to set the lock-up clutch to a disengaged state according to meeting of a disengagement condition. When the kick-down request not during the kick-down control is called a normal kick-down request and the kick-down request during the kick-down control is called a second-time kick-down request, the lock-up controller performs lock-up disengagement control according to the second-time kick-down request based on the disengagement condition which is more eased than the disengagement condition used for the normal kick-down request.

In a vehicle having a continuously variable transmission, a controller selectively performs a first control mode in which a transmission ratio is controlled in a stepless manner, and a second control mode in which the transmission ratio is controlled in a stepwise manner to perform an upshift after a vehicle speed has increased. When the second control mode is selected in response to a driver's acceleration request, the controller continuously downshifts the transmission ratio until the upshift is performed.

In a vehicle having a continuously variable transmission, a controller selectively performs a first control mode in which a transmission ratio is controlled in a stepless manner, and a second control mode in which the transmission ratio is controlled in a stepwise manner to perform an upshift after a vehicle speed has increased. When the second control mode is selected in response to a driver's acceleration request, the controller continuously downshifts the transmission ratio until the upshift is performed.

A stay time integrating device integrates stay time of an accelerator pedal in each pedal stroke position within a predetermined stroke range including a click position. A click stroke calculating device calculates a click stroke based on a pedal stroke position where stay time calculated by the integrating device is the shortest. Thus, it is possible to correctly calculate the click stroke with which the accelerator pedal is actually depressed beyond the click position. In accordance with the click stroke, a control stroke calculating device updates a relationship of the control stroke with a pedal stroke. Accordingly, even if the click stroke varies from one vehicle to another, kick-down which a driver intends can be performed in synchronism with depression of the accelerator pedal beyond the click position by compensating for the variation.

A stay time integrating device integrates stay time of an accelerator pedal in each pedal stroke position within a predetermined stroke range including a click position. A click stroke calculating device calculates a click stroke based on a pedal stroke position where stay time calculated by the integrating device is the shortest. Thus, it is possible to correctly calculate the click stroke with which the accelerator pedal is actually depressed beyond the click position. In accordance with the click stroke, a control stroke calculating device updates a relationship of the control stroke with a pedal stroke. Accordingly, even if the click stroke varies from one vehicle to another, kick-down which a driver intends can be performed in synchronism with depression of the accelerator pedal beyond the click position by compensating for the variation.