While a vehicle is traveling in an automatic driving mode, an auto-driving oil pressure changing unit makes the engagement pressure of hydraulic oil supplied to a release-side engagement device to be released during a downshift of a stepwise shifting unit, higher than the engagement pressure set during traveling in a manual driving mode, so that retraction of the acceleration due to a drop of drive torque during the downshift is reduced. At this time, an auto-driving rotating machine controller makes drive-side MG2 torque generated from a second rotating machine, larger than that generated during traveling in the manual driving mode, so as to speed up the progress of the downshift, and prevent retraction of the acceleration from being prolonged.

A vehicle control apparatus includes: a state determining portion configured to determine whether an engine is in a first operational state corresponding to a normal operation state or a second operational state corresponding to an engine stop state in which the engine is stopped and/or a catalyst warming-up state in which the engine is operated to warm up a catalyst; and a shift control portion configured, in process of a shifting action of a transmission mechanism, to control at least an engaging pressure of an engaging coupling device as one of a plurality of coupling devices of the transmission mechanism, which is to be placed in an engaged state upon completion of the shifting action, such that the engaging pressure of the engaging coupling device is controlled to be lower when the engine is in the second operational state, than when the engine is in the first operational state.

A vehicle control device includes control means for executing coasting control to disengage a friction engaging element and set a rotation speed of a rotary shaft of a drive source at zero when a predetermined condition is established, the predetermined condition including at least a condition according to which an accelerator pedal is not depressed. The control means starts the coasting control after predicting that an actual speed ratio of a continuously variable transmission will be modifiable to a target speed ratio of the coasting control during the coasting control, even in a case where the accelerator pedal is not depressed but the actual speed ratio has not yet reached the target speed ratio.

A method for controlling a hybrid vehicle may include detecting, in a controller, a circumstance that a vehicle is rapidly decelerated and then rapidly accelerated; confirming that a transmission clutch slipped in the controller as a result of performing the detecting; reducing a driving torque and a motor speed while minimizing a hydraulic pressure of the transmission clutch in the controller, in the case that the transmission clutch has slipped as a result of performing the confirming; determining when the transmission clutch is available for synchronization in the controller while performing the reducing; and normalizing the hydraulic pressure of the transmission clutch and the driving torque in the controller, in the case that it is determined that the transmission clutch is available for synchronization as a result of performing the determining.

A control apparatus for a vehicle includes a vehicle driving control portion configured to permit reverse driving of the vehicle in a reverse direction while the automatic transmission is placed in a forward-drive low-speed gear position, with the motor/generator being operated in a negative direction to generate a negative torque, and a transmission shifting control portion configured to implement a control for promotion to establish the forward-drive low-speed gear position, when switching from forward driving of the vehicle to its reverse driving of the vehicle is required in the process of a shifting action of the automatic transmission to the forward-drive low-speed gear position. The transmission shifting control portion implements the control for promotion to establish the forward-drive low-speed gear position, according to a state of control of the engaging-side coupling device to be brought into its engaged state for establishing the forward-drive low-speed gear position.

A transmission park mechanism is hydraulically actuated. Specifically. a controller releases the parking pawl by commanding engagement of particular shift elements at an elevated line pressure. The process of transitioning from Park to a Drive or Reverse condition may involve several sequential steps. To reduce the delay between driver selection of Drive or Reverse and completion of the engagement, it is advantageous to raise the line pressure in response to depression of a brake pedal, prior to movement of the shift lever. To limit the adverse fuel economy impact of increased line pressure, the line pressure is lowered again if the driver does not move the shift lever soon after depressing the brake pedal.

A vehicle includes a hydraulic control unit (HCU) having a set of electrically-actuated valves configured to open/close to accumulate a pressurized hydraulic fluid in a hydraulic apply circuit of a first clutch of a transmission; a hydraulic fluid pump mechanically driven by an engine and configured to provide the pressurized hydraulic fluid to the HCU; and a controller configured to: prior to temporarily stopping the engine, control the engine and the HCU such that the pressurized hydraulic fluid accumulates in the hydraulic apply circuit of the first clutch to a desired hydraulic fluid pressure, and upon restarting the engine, control the set of electrically-actuated valves of the HCU to provide the pressurized hydraulic fluid from the hydraulic apply circuit first clutch to a hydraulic apply circuit for a second clutch of the transmission to apply the second clutch and shift the transmission into drive.

A system of determining starting tendency of a driver may include: a vehicle speed sensor detecting a vehicle speed an accelerator pedal position sensor detecting an accelerator pedal position, and a controller receiving information on input variables including the accelerator pedal position, the vehicle speed from the accelerator pedal position sensor or the vehicle speed sensor, determining a short term driving tendency, a long term driving tendency, and a starting tendency of the driver based on the information, and controlling an engine or a transmission according to the short term driving tendency, the long term driving tendency, and the starting tendency, in which the controller continuously determines the short term driving tendency of the driver for a predetermined time and determines the starting tendency of the driver from a predetermined number (n) of the short term driving tendencies of the driver.

Systems and methods for operating a driveline of a hybrid vehicle are described. In one example, a torque that is produced by an engine is adjusted responsive to a transmission oil temperature and a speed of a torque converter impeller so that temperature of oil in a transmission lube circuit may be maintained at a desired temperature.

A control system of a vehicle is provided, which includes an automatic transmission, a brake controller, and a processor configured to execute a neutral idle controlling module, a hydraulic pressure calculating module, a hydraulic pressure controlling module to calculate a target value of hydraulic pressure supplied to a frictional engageable element according to a given parameter, and a brake hold controlling module. The calculating module includes a first calculating submodule executed to calculate the target value in a period from an issuance of a vehicle start request when a neutral idle control is executed and a brake hold control is not executed in a vehicle stopped state until the frictional engageable element is engaged, and a second calculating submodule executed to calculate the target value so that a calculated value is lower than in the first calculation when the value of the parameter is the same.