A vehicle includes an engine, a transmission, and a controller. The engine is configured to generate power to propel the vehicle. The transmission has gears and clutches configured to shift between the gears. The controller is programmed to operate the clutches during wide-open throttle events to upshift the gears at shift points corresponding to engine speeds. The controller is further programmed to adapt the shift points by increasing the shift points over a series of the wide-open throttle events from initial values to mature values.

A vehicle includes an engine, a transmission, and a controller. The engine is configured to generate power to propel the vehicle. The transmission has gears and clutches configured to shift between the gears. The controller is programmed to operate the clutches during wide-open throttle events to upshift the gears at shift points corresponding to engine speeds. The controller is further programmed to adapt the shift points by increasing the shift points over a series of the wide-open throttle events from initial values to mature values.

A shift control device has stepless and stepped shift modes in which a transmission gear ratio of a continuously variable transmission is controlled in stepless and stepwise fashions, respectively, and includes a mode setting unit that switches the shift mode to the stepped shift mode if an engine rotation speed in the stepless shift mode exceeds a switch threshold, a correction-value setting unit that sets a correction value based on the engine rotation speed if the shift mode is to be switched to the stepped shift mode, a shift-threshold setting unit that sets a shift threshold by adding the correction value to the switch threshold if the shift mode is to be switched to the stepped shift mode, and an upshift controller that switches the transmission gear ratio toward a higher side when the engine rotation speed in the stepped shift mode reaches the shift threshold.

A vehicle control device is provided which is capable of properly satisfying an acceleration request from a driver even when the driver performs a step-on operation of an accelerator pedal in the implementation of an ACC mode. The vehicle control device is capable of: a front car follow-up travel mode, in which a driving force and a transmission ratio are controlled based on a first accelerator position (AP1) for an inter-vehicle distance to a preceding vehicle to be a target inter-vehicle distance; and an override mode, in which the driving force and the transmission ratio are controlled based on a second accelerator position (AP2) determined by an operation of an accelerator operator performed by a driver. Compared with a second transmission characteristic selected in the override mode, in a first transmission characteristic selected in the front car follow-up travel mode, a threshold of the accelerator position at which at least downshift of a transmission (TM) occurs is set to a higher value or an amount of change of the transmission ratio along with the downshift of the transmission (TM) is set to a lower value.

A method and an apparatus for controlling driving power from a powertrain of a motor vehicle comprising a kickdown switch, wherein an activation of the kickdown switch triggers a default action of temporarily requesting an increase of a maximum power available from the powertrain, the method comprising: recognizing that a speed limiter, setting an upper speed limit for the vehicle speed, is active, comparing a current vehicle speed to a predefined speed threshold, which is below the upper speed limit, and if the current vehicle speed is above the speed threshold and the speed limiter is active, triggering an altered action in response to the activation of the kickdown switch.

A transmission control device controls a CVT installed in a vehicle. The device has, as modes for the CVT, a CVT mode M1 for changing a transmission gear ratio steplessly based on the operating state of the vehicle, and a stepped transmission mode M2 for changing the transmission gear ratio stepwise based on the operating state of the vehicle. The device includes a transmission mode switching control unit (controller) 12 for controlling switching between the CVT mode M1 and the stepped transmission mode M2 based on an actual accelerator opening. The transmission mode switching control unit (controller) 12 performs switching from the CVT mode M1 to the stepped transmission mode M2, if the actual accelerator opening reaches or exceeds a first threshold value T1 set in a plurality of stages so as to increase stepwise in accordance with an increase in a vehicle speed.

A kickdown switch for an accelerator pedal informs a driver of a misoperation state by using a kickdown switch provided in the accelerator pedal when the driver misoperates the accelerator pedal rather than operating a brake pedal while braking is required. Accordingly, the driver can definitely recognize the misoperation state of the accelerator pedal and rapidly stop misoperation of the accelerator pedal and sudden acceleration of the vehicle, whereby occurrence of accidents can be prevented.

A kickdown switch for an accelerator pedal informs a driver of a misoperation state by using a kickdown switch provided in the accelerator pedal when the driver misoperates the accelerator pedal rather than operating a brake pedal while braking is required. Accordingly, the driver can definitely recognize the misoperation state of the accelerator pedal and rapidly stop misoperation of the accelerator pedal and sudden acceleration of the vehicle, whereby occurrence of accidents can be prevented.

An active shift control method for a power-off downshift of the hybrid vehicle is provided. The method includes increasing the torque of an engagement clutch in a transmission while disengaging a disengagement clutch by reducing the torque of the disengagement clutch in the transmission, when the shift of a power-off downshift is requested. A motor speed is adjust for a transmission input shaft rotary speed to reach a predetermined target stage synchronization speed of a target stage after shifting, and the torque of the engagement clutch is maintained in a state where the disengagement clutch has been disengaged. The engagement of the engagement clutch is completed by increasing the torque of the engagement clutch when the transmission input shaft rotary speed has reached the target stage synchronization speed.

An active shift control method for a power-off downshift of the hybrid vehicle is provided. The method includes increasing the torque of an engagement clutch in a transmission while disengaging a disengagement clutch by reducing the torque of the disengagement clutch in the transmission, when the shift of a power-off downshift is requested. A motor speed is adjust for a transmission input shaft rotary speed to reach a predetermined target stage synchronization speed of a target stage after shifting, and the torque of the engagement clutch is maintained in a state where the disengagement clutch has been disengaged. The engagement of the engagement clutch is completed by increasing the torque of the engagement clutch when the transmission input shaft rotary speed has reached the target stage synchronization speed.