VEHICLE BODY SPEED ESTIMATION METHOD AND VEHICLE BODY SPEED ESTIMATION APPARATUS

A vehicle body speed estimation method applied to a four-wheel drive vehicle (1) includes: acquiring an estimated vehicle body speed based on wheel speeds or a longitudinal acceleration of the vehicle (1); determining whether an operation condition that includes at least a condition that the estimated vehicle body speed is higher than an operation determination speed is satisfied; performing torque limitation to reduce a torque of a portion of wheels (5) of the vehicle (1) when the operation condition is satisfied; determining whether a stop condition that includes a condition that the estimated vehicle body speed is lower than or equal to a stop determination speed or a condition that a duration of a state where a wheel acceleration of the portion of the wheels (5) is higher than zero is longer than or equal to a set period of time; and stopping the torque limitation when the stop condition is satisfied.