US Patent 8260497 Vehicle control device

In the conventional vehicle control device, since a detection timing of turn is late, at the time of making the change of gear ratio based the detection timing, a sense of discomfort is brought to a driver. Moreover, steering wheel angle sensor, yaw rate sensor or lateral acceleration sensor is very expensive, resulting in the cost increase of the vehicle control devices. From information regarding a steering force that can be obtained from an electric power steering device, a turn intention of a driver is detected, and based the turning intention, the change of gear ratio is conducted.