A propulsion system, control system, and method are provided for optimizing fuel economy, which use model predictive control systems to generate a plurality of sets of possible command values and determine a cost for each set of possible command values based on weighting values, a plurality of predicted values, and a plurality of requested values. The set of possible command values having the lowest cost is determined. A linearized axle torque requested value and a linearized axle torque measured value are each created by subtracting an estimated disturbance. The estimated disturbance is determined based on a model of a relationship between measured engine output torque and measured transmission ratio. The linearized axle torque measured value is used to compute the predicted values, which are used to determine the cost. The linearized axle torque requested value is also used to determine the cost.