A method of maintaining a substantially stable engine speed after a garage shift of an automatic transmission includes identifying a moment when a load from the automatic transmission is applied to an engine via a torque converter during the garage shift based on a first turbine speed change with respect to a reference engine speed change and a second turbine speed change with respect to an actual engine speed change. The method further includes generating a feed forward torque command based on a turbine speed decrement after identifying the moment when the load from the automatic transmission is applied to the engine, and controlling the engine based on the feed forward torque command to maintain a substantially stable engine speed after the garage shift.