Electronic throttles are increasingly being used in automotive systems in order to improve vehicle driveability, fuel economy, and emissions. This paper presents an analysis of the electronic throttle body linear model. The analysis results in simplifications of the process model structure and controller optimization procedure. A method of identification of the simplified process model is outlined. A linear feedback/feed-forward throttle position controller is algebraically optimized according to the damping optimum. The linear controller is extended with a gain scheduling algorithm, in order to deal with different process parameters for the regions below and above the limp-home position. The proposed controller represents a core of the overall nonlinear electronic throttle control strategy which also includes friction and limp-home compensators. The designed control system is examined by computer simulation and experiment.