System, methods, and other embodiments described herein relate to preemptively modifying operation of a trailing vehicle according to predicted acceleration inputs. In one embodiment, a method includes, in response to identifying that a lane ahead of the trailing vehicle has cleared of a leading vehicle, determining an acceleration profile for the trailing vehicle that indicates a predicted acceleration that is anticipated to be provided by a driver as a function of an environmental context. The environmental context characterizes at least current surroundings of the trailing vehicle. The method includes adjusting operating parameters of the trailing vehicle according to the acceleration profile to preemptively optimize the trailing vehicle in anticipation of an acceleration input from the driver that correlates with the predicted acceleration. The method includes controlling the trailing vehicle to accelerate based, at least in part, on the operating parameters upon receiving the acceleration input.