Its partly a question of power. The hybrid Camry gets 200% city & 30% highway better gas mileage. Its a larger car than the Civic, seating 4 larger men comfortably. I'm the smallest at 5'-9" & about 200#. The hybrid real world numbers are double in the city & 1/3 again on the highway compared to the EPA numbers for the 4cyl. model. This improvement comes while still having a net horsepower about halfway between the I4 & the V6 models.

The Civic hybrid gets about 50% better mileage in the city. The current EPA numbers are 36/45 gas only/hybrid.

What engine & vehicle weight does his Civic have? Is it the CVCC? The Camry weighs in at 3680#.

A better comparison is the Toyota Prius. I know two families with three between them that get 50-60mpg. It will seat four & has some cargo room behind the back seat.

From what I've driven it on mountain grades the ones having problems wait too long to start engine braking. They probably let it get away from them before shifting to brake & expect it to bring them to a screaming stop like gearing down with a geared transmission. There's a learning curve to drive a car with CVT or hybrid power train just like learning to drive a high profile vehicle safely when you've never driven one before.

Six + gear means two trips. For a weekend you could carry three adults plus a good selection of gear in one trip. If they pack well you might get four. It depends on what level of gear you plan for. A tent w/ sleeping bags, backpacker's stove, & non-cooler food would probably be doable at four plus gear. Adding cooler, lawn chairs, etc. will cut at leas one person worth of room from at least one trip. This assumes that you only pack up to the level of the back of the seat. Putting soft stuff above this will increase cargo capacity.

You generalized though that anyone driving a truck was compensating, you didn't limit it to those that were tailgating you.
Funny though I get tailgated in my truck by cars and SUV's made by BMW, Lexus, etc. And of course the small car with a big wing on the back.

His latest model Civic is a 2 door hatchback, it's probably a mid-late 90's. I don't know the engine and weight, but didn't CVCC end in the 80's? It seats 4 (not comfortably), but seems like it compares favorably to the Prius, and yes, it has plenty of power. I don't know the weight, but would estimate it at 2500 lbs or so. I've driven it, and am very impressed with the power and handling. And reliability and longevity of it. I can't see what all the extra money buys when you already have the economy in a car like this.

I'm selling my truck. Before reading this thread, I had no idea that people could see right through me. It's like people are wearing those x-ray vision glasses!

I'm gonna buy a small car and get some lead-lined shorts.

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My brain is burning now.

6? Two trips. Five? One trip, if three of you are very skinny and fit in the back seat. It helps if you can all pack light.

Done it a few times.

There is a special place for those people. It isn't in my heart, that's for sure.

Especially if they aren't intelligent enough to figure out how to switch to low beams.

IMHO a lot of the inherent inefficiency in transportation has its origin in psychology, learned inadequacy, and advertising.

Before WW2 cars were sized and fitted with an engine with a sense of proportion for what their role was. Cars were simple with engines that were often under 50 HP. Even heavy trucks had small engines. Load capacity was maintained by gearing. Trucks moved somewhat more slowly.

After WW2 came the 'muscle cars' and vehicles as symbols. Most 4WD vehicles will only go off road if they back over a flower bed. IMO, while some trucks and SUVs have their capability fully utilized most don't. I look around and the majority don't often carry much more than a sack of groceries.

I don't know about penis size. I don't have any desire to have folks drop trou so a they can be measured. Or even read about it. That said a whole lot of guys do seem to be compensating for something.

Vehicles sized for the role they fulfill would be a good step forward.

As mentioned there are good diesel vehicles available. Those Mercedes models are nice ... and pricey. IMHO there aren't many appropriate and efficient diesel vehicles available at reasonable prices. Perhaps in a few years the high dollar models will show up on the second-hand market at reasonable prices. This is the real test of longevity and value.