1966 Porsche 912 Base 1.6l on 2040-cars

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Consumer Reports says infotainment systems 'growing first-year reliability plague'

The Consumer Reports Annual Auto Reliability Survey (right) is out, and the top two spots look much the same as last year's list with Lexus and Toyota in first and second place, respectively. However, there are some major shakeups for 2014, with Acura plunging eight spots from third in 2013 to 11th this year, and Mazda replaces it on the lowest step of the podium. Honda and Audi round out the top five. This year's list includes six Japanese brands in the top 10, two Europeans, one America and one Korean.
Acura isn't the only one taking a tumble, though. Infiniti is the biggest loser this year by dropping 14 spots to 20th place. Other big losses come from Mercedes-Benz with an 11-place fall to 24th, and GMC, which declines 10 positions to 19th.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, it's not traditional mechanical bugs hauling down these automaker's reliability scores. Instead, pesky problems with infotainment systems are taking a series toll on the rankings. According to Consumer Reports, complaints about "in-car electronics" were the most grumbled about element in new cars. Problem areas included things like unresponsive touchscreens, issues pairing phones and multi-use controllers that refused to work right.

Porsche ready to pick itself up after Le Mans failure

It's safe to say that things for Porsche didn't go quite as well at Le Mans this year as it might have hoped. After a sixteen-year gap, the winningest manufacturer in endurance racing history returned to the Circuit de la Sarthe this year hoping maybe not for outright victory in its first time back, but definitely a strong finish on which it could build on for next year. All the while it undoubtedly hoped its 911s would hold their own in the GT classes.
Unfortunately for Porsche, neither happened. After racing around the clock, and despite actually leading the festivities for some time, the best its 919 Hybrid could manage was an eleventh-place finish, lagging lamentably behind not only the other LMP1s (like the race-winning Audi) but also a handful of LMP2s. Meanwhile the LMGTE Pro and LMGTE Am titles went to the factory-backed teams of its arch-rivals Ferrari and Aston Martin, respectively.
Not a stellar result, in other words, but Porsche is taking it all in stride - accepting that it has a ways to go while congratulating its vanquishing rivals in the video below. It's good sportsmanship if we've ever seen it. Next year's race starts now.

NHTSA closes probe into 2011 Porsche 911 coolant leaks

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has announced that it will end its investigation into rapid coolant loss in 24,635 Porsche 911s built between 2001 and 2011. The models affected included the standard 911, GT2, GT3 and Turbo, as well as their variants (GT2 RS, GT3 RS and Turbo S).
NHTSA was investigating for "rapid coolant loss caused by coolant pipe-fitting failure, allegedly resulting in vehicle disablement and/or loss of vehicle control due to reduced traction for the affected vehicle or following traffic," according to the regulators website. "Most of the leak complaints did not appear to involve complete separation of the fittings and many were detected when the vehicle was parked," said NHTSA's statement.
There were 63 complaints and 336 warranty claims, although the investigation was initiated after ten complaints from customers. There have been no reports of crashes or injuries attributed to rapid coolant loss.