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Mazda6 diesel to race at Rolex 24, team and drivers announced

Mazda is getting serious about showing off the Skyactiv-D turbo-diesel four-cylinder engine in the Mazda6. The automaker has just announced it will campaign three diesel Mazda6 racers in the Grand-Am GX class of the upcoming 2013 Rolex 24 at Daytona in a quest to walk away with the company's 24th class win. Mazda partnered with SpeedSource to develop the race version of the new sedan, with Japanese and American engineers lending a helping hand where needed. Meanwhile, Freedom Autosport and Visit Florida Racing/SpeedSource/Yellow Dragon Racing will helm teams of their own.
Each car will make use of a five-driver team for the 24-hour race on January 26. In the interim, you can check out the full press release below for more information as well as the full driver roster. Mazda says we can expect to see the No. 70 SpeedSource car under the lights at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show later this month, as well.

Mazda ranks first for reliability in Consumer Reports, dethroning Toyota, Lexus

For time immemorial, or at least the past six years, Toyota and Lexus have sat at the top of Consumer Reports' annual survey of vehicle reliability. It was almost as much a given as blue skies and taxes. Not any more. Mazda has dethroned them both, ascending to the No. 1 spot for the first time. Mazda nabbed the top spot with powertrains and that used durable (and more fun) six-speed automatic transmissions instead of CVTs, which tend to be more fragile. Mazda also didn't rely on overly fancy infotainment systems, instead bucking industry trends with cockpits that discourage screen use during driving and encourage buttons and dials that can be handled without taking your eyes off the road. The most reliable Mazda was the MX-5 with a score of 98 out of 100, followed by the CX-30, CX-3, and CX-5, all scoring 85 or better. Overall, Toyota and Lexus still rank far above the average, taking the second and third spots respectively. Lexus was dragged down by problems pertaining to the LS, but CR didn't specify the nature of those issues. Buick was the most improved brand, jumping up 14 spots to claim fourth. Its show was attributed largely to the Encore, which received a score of 91. Honda moved up seven positions to round out the top five, but was denied a better position due to the Passport and Odyssey's scores in the mid-30s. Among European brands, Porsche ranked highest, at No. 9. BMW moved up five spots to 12th, while Audi kept its mid-pack position at 14th, and Mercedes brought up the rear among the German big three in 20th place. At the bottom of the list were Ford, Mini, Volkswagen, Tesla, and Lincoln falling 11 places to dead last. In particular, the Ford Explorer was called out for having the fewest points of any model, barely registering at all a score of 1, thanks to gremlins with engines, body, power equipment, electronics, and transmissions. Tesla's newly introduced Model Y crossover dragged down the electric carmaker's standing to the penultimate spot. Owners of the Model Y, which began production in January, have reported misaligned body panels that had to be fixed and mismatched paint including, in one case, human hair stuck in the paint, according to Consumer Reports. The Model Y finished with a "much worse than average" reliability rating. The rankings are taken annually based on a survey of 300,000 vehicles. Information from AP was used in this report.

New Mazda CX-4 teaser shots emerge ahead of Beijing debut

The Kodo styling language seen on last year's Koeru concept seems to translate well to a production car, judging by these teaser images of the upcoming CX-4 from Mazda's Chinese press site. And, as has been seen on several recent Mazdas, concept cars can be quite close to their eventual production versions. An earlier press release implies the CX-4 should be seen as a more coupe-like counterpart to the CX-5, with some of the MX-5's characteristic and often emphasized jinba ittai feel injected into it – if the MX-5 is all about the rider and horse being one, the CX-4 would just be a slightly bigger steed. The 19-inch wheels and LED headlights are some of the more attention-grabbing details on the car. Inside, there's a head-up-display and a MZD connect infotainment screen as seen on other current models. The hardware on the "Exploring-Coupe SUV", as Mazda call it, should match the CX-5: 2.2-liter SKYACTIV-D turbodiesels in some markets, 2.0 and 2.5-liter SKYACTIV-G gasoline engines in most. There will also be a choice of front-wheel-drive or all-wheel-drive. The Beijing Motor Show opens to the public on April 29th, so we won't have to wait a whole lot longer to see the whole thing. Related Video: