Control apparatus for vehicular drive system

A control apparatus for a drive system of a vehicle provided with a first drive wheel and a second drive wheel each of which is rotated by an output of an engine transmitted thereto, and a differential limiting device configured to limit a differential rotary motion between said first drive wheel and said second drive wheel, the control apparatus being provided with an automatic engine starting determining portion configured to determine whether a predetermined automatic engine starting condition is satisfied while said engine is at rest in a running state of the vehicle, and an automatic engine starting control portion configured to automatically start said engine when it is determined that said automatic engine starting condition is satisfied, the control apparatus comprising:

• on-engine-starting differential limiting portion configured to command said differential limiting device to limit the differential rotary motion between said first drive wheel and said second drive wheel, upon automatic starting of said engine under the control of said automatic engine starting control portion,
• and wherein said on-engine-starting differential limiting portion limits the differential rotary motion between said first drive wheel and said second drive wheel, on the basis of a drive torque varying upon starting of said engine under the control of said automatic engine starting control portion, and according to a stored predetermined relationship between said drive torque and a differential limiting torque generated by said differential limiting device.