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Lexus gets top brand marks from Consumer Reports; Ford, Jeep hit hard

Consumer Reports has released its 2014 Car Brand Report Cards, with Lexus again reigning at the top and doing so with the same industry-topping score of 79 that it registered in last year's Report Cards. This year, the institute credited its lineup for being "usually quiet, comfortable, and fuel-efficient," noting it's the only brand on the list "to achieve an excellent average overall reliability score." The Car Brand Report Cars list is meant to rank the best all-around vehicles based on CR testing and reliability results tallied by subscribers it surveyed. Each brand included must have sufficient test and reliability data for at least three models, a standard which left out 11 marques including Fiat, Jaguar, Land Rover and Porsche.
This 2014 Brand Report Cars edition is the first of a new format in which sub-brands have been broken out from their parent brands, with Acura using this year to move up the leaderboard into second place with a score of 75 for its "reliable, well-finished and somewhat sporty models." The top three was rounded out by Audi, climbing from eighth to third by scoring a 74 for "well-crafted interiors, nice handling and good gas mileage." Audi scored highest in the road-test portion, its improved reliability aiding its rise. The top nine was completed by Subaru, Toyota, Mazda, Honda, Infiniti and Mercedes-Benz.
Ford and Jeep weighed in at the other end of the rankings, Jeep taking the lowest overall score in the road tests and hampered by "a mix of spotty reliability." Ford was sunk by reliability issues with its MyFord Touch infotainment system which consumers found troublesome enough to negate its cars earning "solid test scores" for being "very nice to drive." Perhaps the rumored switch from Microsoft to Blackberry's QNX for the next generation SYNC will help them out. Cadillac's score also took a hit for infotainment reasons after it was the leading US brand last year, the CUE system in the XTS dragging Cadillac to the bottom of all General Motors brands.

With increased range, Audi R8 E-Tron revving up for production. Maybe

As Tesla Motors proved mightily in 2013, an expensive EV with a long range can sell quite nicely, thank you very much. Perhaps Audi was taking notes, since its all-electric R8 E-Tron's on-again/off-again odyssey appears to be on again, according to UK's Autocar, citing Audi's Urlich Hackenburg. The model is near the approval stage for production, and the key to the green-light is the fact that its single-charge range has been almost doubled to 250 miles. The R8 E-Tron gained kudos in these parts last June by turning in a rather brisk 8:09 time around Germany's Nurburgring track, a record for a production electric vehicle (check out the really quiet video here). Still, plans for the 376-horsepower model, which has two electric motors and was first shown off at the Frankfurt Auto Show in 2009, had been put on the proverbial blocks largely because of a relatively short single-charge range of about 150 miles. Then word came out last spring that Audi would produce maybe 10 units before reports from Australia's Drive late last year indicated that plans for potentially broader production were being resuscitated.

Audi considering other variants, turbo V6 for R8

More details from the Audi R8 event at Spain's Ascari circuit have met the Internet, and they provide more intel on the supercoupe will evolve over the second generation. First, they note some small differences in stance with this new car, being wider than the current car and sitting 30 millimeters (1.18 inches) lower. Compared to its Lamborghini Huracan brother, it gets three extra centimeters in the wheelbase. Filling out the power numbers, the 'entry-level' V10 engine at launch rolls out 540 horsepower and 399 pound-feet of torque, does the 0-60 mile per hour dash in 3.5 seconds, and hits a top speed of 200 mph. The V10 Plus model rocks 620 hp and 412 lb-ft, which slices 0.3 seconds off that acceleration time and adds five more mph to the top speed. They'll transfer their power through a seven-speed S-tronic that shifts faster than before, and it will in turn send power through an electronically-controlled clutch at the front axle and a constantly variable limited-slip differential at the rear axle. The power split is said to default to 42/58 front-to-rear, but 100 percent of the torque can be sent fore or aft. Benchmarked against the 991-series Porsche 911, driving sensations travel through an electromechanical steering setup that can be had with a variable rack if preferred, leading to standard 19-inch wheels with the option of 20-inchers and tires developed specifically for this car. A Performance setting offers dry, wet, and snow modes; that first setting turns the ESC off except for situations of impending doom, and Audi racer and test driver Frank Stippler told Top Gear that understeer is reduced, to which TG added "it oversteers at will." Stippler said it's "a lot closer to the GT3 race car than ever before," and even though it's "a lot" less intense than the Huracan, it's just as fast on the track. His estimate is that the new R8 will lap the Nurburgring between ten and 15 seconds faster than the current car. R8 technical lead Roland Schala said the new chassis opens up new avenues of development because "there's no problem to change it," mentioning models like a Clubsport or Superleggera as no longer forbidden. Differentiation could come from a wider engine mix, too. Markets like China need smaller displacements, so Audi's twin-turbo V8 is expected to join the line-up at some point, bringing 500 horsepower.