Abstract: A powertrain control system for management and supervision of engine and servo-assisted gearbox control modules is arranged for determining the power to be applied to the drive wheels of the vehicle as a function of signals indicative of commands imparted by the driver, of the engine and gearbox state parameters and of possible requirements from the engine and gearbox control modules and supplementary on board vehicle traction/drive control systems; calculating data indicative of the torque to be delivered at the engine drive shaft, the torque transmissible by the clutch and the required transmission ratio, as a function of the determined value of the power to be applied to the drive wheels, of the state parameters and of the requirements of the engine and gearbox control modules and the traction/drive control systems; and transmitting the calculated data as signals to the engine and gearbox control modules.

Abstract: A powertrain control system is described for a motor vehicle provided with at least one engine and a gearbox of servo-assisted type, connectable to the drive shaft of the engine (ICE) via at least one servo-controlled clutch, to which are associated respective control modules arranged to perform an automatic control procedure for control of the traction as a function of signals or data indicative of commands imparted by a motor vehicle driver, and predetermined state parameters of the engine and the gearbox; the system including a module for management and supervision of the said control modules, arranged to manage the powertrain of the vehicle, and in particular to: determine in a predetermined manner, the power to be applied to the drive wheels of the vehicle as a function of signals or data indicative of commands imparted by the driver, of state parameters and of possible requirements from the control modules and/or supplementary on board vehicle traction/drive control systems; calculate, as a function of

Abstract: A method of detecting and controlling detonation, including the steps of: generating (10) a vibration signal (D) proportional to the intensity of vibration on the crankcase; wide-band-filtering (11) the vibration signal (D) to generate a first intermediate signal; rectifying (12) the first intermediate signal to generate a second intermediate signal; integrating (13) the second intermediate signal to generate a first numeric value; calculating (14) a logarithm of the first numeric value to obtain a second numeric value (Xi); calculating (16) a difference between the second numeric value (Xi) and the mean value (&mgr;i) to obtain a third numeric value (&dgr;i) with a predetermined threshold value (&dgr;o); determining (18) the presence of detonation in the event the third numeric value (&dgr;i) has a first predetermined relationship with the predetermined threshold value (&dgr;o); forming (19, 21) a detonation index (Ii) indicating the behavior of the engine in terms of detonation; and obtaining (22) a spark l