Midlands Honda

New car apps offer greater convenience and in many instances greater comfort. There's just one little problem: the way drivers interact with apps varies from model to model. For some, smartphones serve as the platform. For others, apps are loaded right onto the vehicle's telematics system. For all, this can seem clunky, inefficient, and most of all - confusing.

To help endorse a simple, reliable way for drivers to interact with car apps, Honda has teamed up with other industry bigwigs to found the Connectivity Consortium.  In the end, the Consortium aims to standardize the Terminal Mode app system…

Honda's CR-Z hybrid finished second in its class, 9th overall, against 72 cars during the 25 Hours of Thunderhill endurance race.

This is a popular event among grass-roots racers, even auto manufacturers and racing teams, and is run by the National Auto Spot Association. This was the first time a racing version of a hybrid was offered by a company. This year was the first time Honda's US racing division entered its own team.

Honda's team staged a come-from-behind run that looked like it almost ended with a first place victory. But after racing back from a…