Adaptive Control

WARNING: This page is about a different car, the 2005 Subaru Outback and 2005 Subaru Legacy. However, it is still accessible from the selected car via links, so may be relevant.

This control is performed to improve the drivability of the vehicle by optimizing gear shifts in accordance with the driver's intention to accelerate or decelerate, and driving conditions such as hill climbing, winding road driving, etc.

Shift pattern automatic switching control
This control enables selection of the optimum gear speed by automatically switching the shift pattern by estimating driver's intentions and driving conditions through sensor information such as driving resistance, engine speed, acceleration, vehicle speed, and also from calculated values. Any of the three patterns NORMAL, SPORTS, and SLOPE are continuously and automatically selected under the following conditions.

D range

NORMAL SPORTS SLOPE

D range, in sports mode

SPORTS SLOPE

Normal pattern: covers a wide range from normal driving to high speed driving.

Sports pattern: a shift pattern suitable for driving conditions requiring deep accelerator pedal positions, such as winding road driving.

Slope pattern: this shift pattern controls upshifting to prevent too frequent gear shifting during climbing or descending hills. By combining braking control (in sports mode only) (explained later), automatic engine braking will be available when descending hills.

Fig 1: Identifying Slope And Sport Pattern
Courtesy of SUBARU OF AMERICA, INC.

Fig 2: Identifying Grade Control Pattern
Courtesy of SUBARU OF AMERICA, INC.
Accelerator pedal quick depressing control
When the accelerator pedal is quickly depressed, the TCM interprets this as acceleration is required, and the transmission is downshifted earlier to obtain a greater drive force.
Accelerator pedal quick return control
When the accelerator pedal is quickly released, the TCM interprets this as deceleration is required, and upshift is prohibited in order to hold the transmission in the current gear speed to prevent frequent shifting and to maintain engine braking effect (operates in sports mode only).
Braking control
According to the braking force (deceleration) during braking, downshifts are hastened to ensure engine braking effect and obtain a larger driving power for accelerating after braking (operates in sports mode only).
Control during cornering
When the system interprets that the vehicle is turning a corner by the lateral acceleration and the change rate in vehicle speed, it prevents unwanted upshifts to maintain a stable drive force and cornering performance.