Apparatus for controlling a vehicle

An apparatus for controlling a vehicle comprising:

• an internal combustion engine which comprises a plurality of cylinders and at least one intake control valve, which is disposed in a path of intake air connected to inside of the plurality of cylinders, which can generate pulsation of the intake air in accordance with an opening/closing state and can adjust an intake air amount as an amount of the intake air, in which the opening/closing state is controlled without seating by abutment by predetermined opening/closing control at least in a normal situation, and which allows inertia supercharging using the pulsation of the intake air by controlling the opening/closing state from a valve closing state to a valve opening state in a valve opening period of an intake valve;
• and sensors which are provided in a one-to-one manner together with the intake control valves, which define the opening/closing state, and which can detect degree of opening of the intake control valve referred to when the opening/closing control is performed, the intake control valve being different from a throttle valve,
• the apparatus having a controller that is configured to:
• judge whether or not a sensor of the sensors is in a failure state;
• detect a change amount of the intake air amount in each of the plurality of cylinders;
• limit fluctuation of the intake air amount in a target cylinder as at least one portion of the plurality of cylinders corresponding to the sensor which is judged to be in the failure state on the basis of the change amount detected in each of the cylinders if it is judged that the sensor is in the failure state;
• specify a predetermined index value defined as correlating with the intake air amount in advance on the basis of the detected change amount for each of the plurality of cylinders;
• and
• set a target value of the index value,
• the controller being configured to control a target intake control valve as the intake control valve corresponding to the sensor which is judged to be in the failure state such that the specified index value converges on the set target value, depending on the magnitude relationship between the specified index value and the set target value, without using the detected degree of opening of the target intake control valve.