Walker 21706 - Quiet-flow™ Steel Round Aluminized Exhaust Muffler on 2040-parts.com

Toyota Auris Touring Sports: Price from £15,595

The new Toyota Auris Touring Sports – the Auris Estate – will start from £15,595 for the Active 1.33-litre Dual VVT-i rising to £22,845 for the Excel Hybrid. The new Auris Estate will start at £15,595 for the Active 1.33-litre Dual VVT-i and top out at £22,845 for the Excel 1.8 Hybrid Synergy Drive with CVT box, and in between will be two other engine choices - 1.4 D-4D and 1.6 Valvematic – and a total of four trim levels – Active, Icon, Sport and Excel. The trim levels mirror those on the Auris hatch, so the Active trim gets Climate, Hill Start, roof rails and 15″ steel wheels, with the Icon trim adding 16″ alloys, Fogs, Touchscreen Infotainment with Bluetooth, DAB and rear view camera.

Opel/Vauxhall Corsa E

If this fifth-generation Opel Corsa looks familiar, that's because this is more a heavy facelift than an all-new car.Opel has concentrated efforts on the eight-year old Corsa's mechanicals rather than an all-new bodyshell. Instead every exterior panel has been redesigned, alongside the entire interior.This is the first Corsa developed under GM Europe's VP of design, Mark Adams and his influence is clear to see, with the incorporation of the lower bodyside 'blade' surface and the pouting mouth of the Adam.While its proportions and upper body are clearly carried over, the new nose treatment in particular disguises the car's high scuttle thanks to the lower grille, lamps and diving shoulderline. The hood also gains a deeply recessed center surface that visually cheats down its height.In order to disguise the carryover glass, the rear of the five-door version's DLO now kicks up at the base of the C-pillar rather than running through into the rear, giving a stronger aesthetic.

New techniques cut cost of carbon fiber

Carbon fiber, once so costly that it was the preferred material only for fighter planes and supercars, is catching the attention of weight-conscious automakers. Carbon fiber's cost is falling dramatically, thanks to production advances that let suppliers speed the material's finicky, and costly, curing process. One technological breakthrough that makes carbon-fiber auto parts more affordable may come from a process used to make carbon-fiber golf clubs.