Vehicle drive force controller

摘要

A vehicle drive force controller comprises a navigation device for determining whether or not the vehicle is travelling in a mountainous region. The navigation device comprises a global positioning system for determining vehicle position, combined with a memory in which is stored altitude data for an area surrounding the vehicle position. A microprocessor determines the slope of the road on which the vehicle is travelling from the altitude data, and then a vehicle drive force characteristic suitable for a mountainous region is selected if the slope is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. A different drive force characteristic is selected if the slope is less than a predetermined value. The drive force characteristic may be the throttle gain of an electronic throttle or the speed change pattern of an automatic transmission. The microprocessor can be programmed so that the throttle opening is larger when the vehicle is travelling in a mountainous region, or so that a lower gear is selected when the vehicle is in a mountainous region.