Haynes offers the tradtional paper-bound book that, if you’ve ever pulled a tranny, you’ve undoubtedly seen before. (If you thought that example involved cross-dressing, do not attempt to fix your Prius. Ever.) For about $25, it covers everything from routine maintenance to emissions controls and wiring diagrams, with photos and step-by-step instructions for every procedure.

Chilton has gone all 21st-century on us with its new web site ChiltonDIY.com. Twenty bucks will get you online access to the how-tos for maintenance and repair, with photos and illustrations to guide you through the process. This is the excuse you’ve been waiting for to hook up a wireless router in the garage and plug in your old laptop. You might want to get one of those plastic keyboard covers first.

Be warned, Prius owners: you must have a mechanical bone in your body — preferably dozens of them — to follow along with the more advanced techniques in either repair manual. But curious beginners with a reasonable understanding of how a car works should be able to start with the maintenance and work their way up to master home Prius mechanic.

The new car looks more like a Civic or hydrogen-powered FCX Clarity and less like the old Insight, with its covered rear wheels and flat Kamm tail. Though the original only sold 17,000 units between 1999 and 2006, it was the first car to break the 70 mpg barrier. Honda expects the new Insight to sell much better, to the tune of 200,000 cars worldwide, half of which will end up in American driveways. The concept will debut at the Paris auto show, October 4-19, 2008, and be available in U.S. showrooms by April 2009.

Honda already has a hybrid version of the Civic, but the Insight will be smaller and lighter. The company also has plans to add a hybrid Fit to the lineup sometime in the future, along with a sporty hybrid based on the CR-Z.

As narrator and Globe columnist Alex Beam puts it in the video, “You don’t get there very fast, but you feel better about getting there.” I hope he felt great at the finish line — he was the race’s biggest loser, at just over 50 mpg. To see the winner, take a 3-minute coffee break and watch the video. It’s no Michael Phelps, but it’s inspiring nonetheless.

The Highlander will still be built in the U.S. as well, but at a plant in Indiana. The Tundra pickup truck, which currently rolls off two production lines in the U.S., will be consolidated to one factory in San Antonio, Texas. Toyota has also suspended Tundra and Sequoia production from now until November in response to the drop in truck demand.

The Prius will be the second Toyota hybrid built in the U.S.; Camry Hybrids sold in the U.S. come from a factory in Kentucky. Since the Mississippi plant will be producing the 2010 Prius, we can assume it will be the new, redesigned, 3rd-gen Prius expected to debut in January at the Detroit auto show.

Battery manufacturer Cobasys is accused of refusing to honor its agreement to supply the electric power source for the hybrid and of misrepresenting its finances to M-B, according to reporting done by the Tuscaloosa News. The German automaker was slated to begin production of the M-Class at a plant in Georgia this summer, but it says there’s no alternative supplier it can use to get the batteries it needs. For its part, Cobasys says it never agreed to produce the battery pack.

If you’re looking for a winner in this post, it may be GM, whose huge Chevy Tahoe Hybrid currently has a cash bonus of up to $6,000 on 2008 models. GM also builds the Saturn Vue Hybrid, a smaller SUV similar in size to the so-popular-its-hard-to-find Ford Escape Hybrid and the M-Class.

Nissan says the ECO Pedal can earn a driver as much as 5-10% better fuel economy. They didn’t say which models will receive the new technology, or even which countries might get it.

In the meantime, U.S. car buyers can count on the Nissan Altima hybrid for 2009, which was named one of the top 10 green cars by Kelly Blue Book. The company just announced pricing for the hybrid at $26,650, and the EPA rated it at 35 city/33 highway.