| 摘要 |
<p>A vehicle drive force controller which is responsive to regional attributes or conditions comprises a navigation device, a microprocessor and a sensor responsive to the operation amount of the accelerator pedal. A regional attribute for a particular region in which a vehicle is travelling is detected S21 using the navigation device. Regional attributes may include a traffic jam, a mountainous area (road slope) or an urban area. A modified vehicle drive force characteristic is calculated by the microprocessor in accordance with the regional attribute. The drive force characteristic might be the throttle gain of an electronic throttle, the speed change pattern of an automatic transmission, or the air-fuel ratio. An operation amount of an accelerator pedal operated by a driver is detected S23 and the drive force characteristic is only updated to its modified value if the accelerator operation is zero S25. If the acceleration amount is not zero, the original drive force characteristic is maintained, irrespective of the change in regional attribute. Therefore an abrupt change of drive force is avoided, along with any discomfort experienced by the driver. In one alternative embodiment a low gear is selected, or higher gears are prohibited, if an urban area attribute is detected (figs 17-18). A further alternative, when the throttle gain is used as the drive force characteristic, is to modify the throttle gain value in small steps (fig. 35).</p> |
