2011 Porsche 911 S Cab In Carrera White With Black Pdk Nav Only 12,100 Miles on 2040-cars

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Ward's Automotive Ten Best Engines of 2014 dominated by diesels, turbos

With the Car and Driver Ten Best decided, the North American Car and Truck of the Year finalists announced and Cadillac, Ram and Subaru chalking up wins with Motor Trend, it's fair to say that the automotive awards season is in full swing. The next set of trophies to be handed out will be from Ward's Automotive, which has announced the winners of its 2014 10 Best Engines.
The latest contest was marked by the widespread emergence of diesel power and the continued success of turbocharged engines. There was even an electric motor on this year's list. In fact, only three of the ten winners were naturally aspirated and only two winners returned from last year.
"We weren't looking to throw the bums out, as they might say about an election. We were just really impressed with the flood of new powertrains," said Ward's Automotive Editor-in-Chief Drew Winter. Those new powertrains include the 83-kilowatt electric motor from the Fiat 500e, the 1.0-liter, EcoBoost three-cylinder from the Ford Fiesta and the 2.0-liter turbodiesel from the Chevrolet Cruze.

Porsche celebrates Le Mans return with Martini edition 911

If we've said it once, we've said it a hundred times - but we'll gladly say it again: there are few racing liveries as iconic as Martini. And while those stripes have adorned countless Lancia and Ford rally cars, grand prix racers (like the latest Williams) and even speedboats, they remain inexorably tied to Porsche. Fortunately that point is not lost on Porsche itself, which has lately put them on its own 918 Spyder, race-spec 911 and all manner of merchandise. And this is the latest.
To celebrate its return to Le Mans this year, Porsche Exclusive is offering this special Martini Racing Edition. It's based on the 911 Carrera S, which means the more potent 3.8-liter flat six with 400 horsepower, but upgrades, as you might have guessed, with a whole mess of Martini Racing stripes and logos, along with the Aerokit Cup front and rear spoilers. The badges and stripes abound inside as well, where you'll also find such optional extras as the Porsche Communication Management system, Bose audio and black leather electric sport seats.
Porsche is offering the 911 Carrera S Martini Racing Edition in either white or black, but unfortunately not in our market - just in Europe, China and Latin America. Those who miss out will (in certain markets anyway) be able to order the decal set separately though. Feel free to read more in the press release below.

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.