ALMOST PERFECT

摘要

THE PACE OF AUTOMOTIVE improvement accelerates each year. Your average V-6 Chevrolet Impala puts down numbers that would've qualified it as a supercar thirty years ago, and we expect our cars to last 200,000 miles without much more than oil changes. You can buy a Ford Mustang with 662 hp, and Toyota Priuses effortlessly get 50 mpg. Rolls-Royce even has technology to keep its hood ornaments from being touched by poor people. I mean, let's just close the patent office and call it a century, right? No, not quite. Despite our deepening expectations for no-compromise excellence across the board, cars are not perfect. For instance, I just drove the new V-6 Ram 1500 and it's manifestly talented, a Range Rover dressed as a pickup. You've got height-adjustable air suspension, a ZF eight-speed automatic transmission, 305 hp, and 25 mpg on the highway. What more can you want? Well... the Ford F-150 has turbos. So I was thinking how nice that Pentastar V-6 would be with turbos. And dirept injection. Basically, a Ram with the EcoBoost V-6 would be the perfect truck. Actually, a Ram with EcoBoost that looked like a GMC Sierra Denali - that's even better. See, as a modern American consumer, there's no pleasing me. And my demands aren't limited to the Ram. So here are my ideas to put the finishing touches on some other cars that are just shy of perfection...