1988 Mazda Rx7 Convertible Immaculate Condition Original 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.

The Mazda MX-5 Miata and saving a marriage

I've had the privilege of knowing Zach Bowman – former Autoblog scribe, now penning great things over at Road & Track – for nearly a decade. We met at the Detroit Auto Show when we were both relatively new to the business, and joked about how someday, we'd work together and eventually conquer the world as big shots in the industry (we're still figuring that last part out, by the way). Thus, I was thrilled when Zach joined Autoblog in 2010, just a couple of months after I was hired, and was equally saddened when I learned he'd be leaving us. Zach is someone I'm proud to call a colleague – nay, a friend – and I've enjoyed the voice he's brought to this line of work. I tell you this on a personal level because Zach has just published what you could arguably consider his most heartfelt piece of automotive work to date. It's a charming, emotional story about his relationship with his wife, and how they, like so many young couples, learned to make marriage work through the many ups and downs found in any solid relationship. I call this "automotive work" because Zach intertwines this tale into a story about driving his 2006 Mazda MX-5 Miata across the country, his wife by his side, learning about love and life from the cockpit of a two-seat roadster. I can honestly say it's one of the best things I've read in a long while. Rather than continue to wax poetic about Zach's latest piece, I'll let his own words speak for themselves. Head over to Road & Track to read the full piece.

Oliver Jarvis in a Mazda takes pole in star-studded Rolex 24 at Daytona

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Oliver Jarvis broke a 26-year-old record at Daytona International Speedway in putting the Mazda DPi from Team Joest on the pole for the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Jarvis went to the top of the scoring chart early in Thursday's qualifying session with a lap at 1 minute, 33.685 seconds. It broke the mark by two-tenths of a second set by P.J. Jones in 1993 in a GTP-class Toyota. The Englishman spoiled a strong run by Team Penske, which qualified second and third for the twice-round-the-clock endurance race that begins Saturday. Ricky Taylor earned the second spot in Penske's Acura ARX-05, while teammate Juan Pablo Montoya was third in his first time qualifying the sports car for the organization. Team Joest wound up first and fourth on the starting grid with Jonathan Bomarito putting its second car on the second row. Felipe Nasr had the fastest Cadillac DPi-V.R in fifth for Action Express Racing. Nasr is the reigning IMSA champion and led the way for four more Cadillacs in qualifying. Jordan Taylor was sixth for Wayne Taylor Racing, ahead of Juncos Racing's Agustin Canapino, then Tristan Vautier and Stephen Simpson for JDC-Miller Motorsports. James Allen in an Oreca 07 Gibson for DragonSpeed won the LMP2 pole. In the GT Le Mans class, Nick Tandy put a Porsche on the pole as four different manufacturers qualified in the first two rows. IMSA GTLM champion Jan Magnussen of Corvette Racing was second, Ryan Briscoe in a Ford GT for Chip Ganassi Racing was third and followed by Davide Rigon in Risi Competizione's Ferrari 488. Marcos Gomes gave Via Italia's Ferrari 488 the pole in the GT Daytona class. Related Video: