The Civic's windshield is the flattest ever.
What Is It: Windshields now do more than provide a clear view of the road.

Laminated windshields reflect harmful UV rays, reducing exposure to skin-damaging sunlight and keeping car interiors cooler.

Several sporty 2007 models have sharp-angled windshields that improve a car's aerodynamics.

How to Get It: A staple of sports cars, a sharp-angled windshield shifts the driver further back, creating headroom and the coveted cockpit-like feel. Because wind resistance grows with acceleration, steep-angled windshields move air faster over the car.

At an angle of 21.9 degrees, the 2007 Honda Civic's windshield is the company's steepest windshield to date. According to the company, the windshield makes the car more aerodynamic and indirectly, more fuel efficient.

Solutia Inc. makes a Saflex Q series acoustic interlayer for windshields that is placed inside two pieces of glass by the glass manufacturer. The company claims the layer causes sound waves hitting the windshield to dissipate before they can enter the car.

Full article continued at The Wall Street Journal: Reinventing the Wheel.