Vehicle drive force controller responsive to regional conditions

摘要

A vehicle drive force controller is responsive to a regional attribute or condition in which the vehicle is travelling, in order to modify a drive force characteristic of the vehicle accordingly. The drive force characteristic may be the throttle gain of an electronic throttle, the speed change pattern of an automatic transmission, or the air-fuel ratio. Furthermore, a sensor detects a travelling condition of the vehicle, and from this travelling condition a microprocessor determines whether the vehicle is in a traffic jam S51. The sensor may determine whether there is a vehicle ahead, or it may sense the frequency of acceleration or braking, or it may determine the vehicle location relative to local traffic jam information. Modification of the drive force characteristic based on a regional condition is then only carried out if the vehicle is not in a traffic jam S25. If the vehicle is in a traffic jam, the drive force is not modified S24, or alternatively it is modified to a predetermined characteristic which is independent of the regional condition (see figure 24).