Vintage Nos Auto-lite Thermostat 195 ~ Rt129 ~ C9pj-8575-d (lot 489) on 2040-parts.com

Honda goes social with the Sounds of Civic songwriting contest

It seems all automakers are tapping the social-media networks these days. From the Ford Mustang Mayhem package to the Toyota Prius plural campaign, conventional wisdom is there's nothing a few thousand Facebook fans can't handle. The latest automaker to hop the train is Honda, which is sponsoring a creative songwriting competition called the Sounds of Civic to mark the debut of the 2012 Honda Civic.

Infiniti EX35

The EX35 is a slightly smaller and more mainstream SUV than its FX bigger brother from which it takes its core 'coupe SUV' theme.  Despite the coupe design references, the vehicle is similar proportionally to the Lexus RX300 and BMW X3 which it will compete with in the US - and also in Europe when the Infiniti brand debuts next year.  Little different to the Infiniti EX concept shown in New York, the EX35 uses the core Infiniti graphic design signatures and soft form language but introduces a new flowing side feature line not seen on the Infiniti G37 Coupe launched a few months ago. Interesting technical innovations include the 'Around View Monitor' that uses four cameras to give a 'top-down view' of the outside of the car, and 'Scratch Shield' - a new self-healing clearcoat paint. Related Stories: Infiniti EX concept - New York Auto Show 2007 Infiniti G37 Coupe - New York Auto Show 2007

Volkswagen debuts tuned Jettas for SEMA

It's easy to get the impression that SEMA is all about unattainable and outlandish show cars, ones that will never see the street, but in reality there is plenty of iron (or carbon fiber really) from all sides of all ponds that we could see people driving on the street. And just to reinforce that point, Volkswagen has brought a couple of tuned Jettas to SEMA that could almost pass for stock cars. This being SEMA, all that really means is that you're not looking hard enough -- the subtle cars you see are probably sleepers.