METHOD FOR CONTROLLING MHT POWERTRAIN HARDWARE COMPONENTS AS A FUNCTION OF DRIVER DEMANDED RESPONSIVENESS

A hybrid vehicle includes an electric machine, an engine selectively coupled to the electric machine by a disconnect clutch, and a controller. The controller is programmed to, in response to a change in the driver-demanded torque necessitating starting of the engine: determine a state of driving (SOD) based on the change in driver-demanded torque, wherein the SOD is indicative of a desired responsiveness of the vehicle, and the desired responsiveness increases as SOD increases; command a speed target to the engine equal to a predicted motor speed associated with the driver-demanded torque plus an offset that is based on the SOD; and command a capacity to the disconnect clutch at a rate and a magnitude based on the SOD.