[serialk11r]

The problem is it's hard to explain to the public a proper cruising gear because people will start wondering where the power went. "My engine has 240hp and I can't pass on the highway? WHAT A CRAPPY ENGINE!"
Meanwhile magazine reviews "the engine has amazing torque even in 6th gear!"

For performance driving, it is true that most 6 speed manual transmissions have a stupid 6th gear because the first 5 are the ones you use on a track and you hit top speed in 5th. When they talk "close ratio transmission" they don't mean evenly spaced, they mean the gear ratios are getting closer as you go higher! This is to counter the effects of air resistance I believe, since most performance driving happens at speeds where air resistance is playing some sort of role.

There is a place for more than 6 gears especially on an automatic because it will slightly improve acceleration, smoothness, and if you are cruising along at say 35mph, often times the last gear is too tall, so it's good to have a secondary cruise. On a manual transmission some people don't want to shift more often or don't understand the benefits, and other people just straight out don't care about fuel economy and want "response".

CVTs aren't used in performance driving because they have low torque capacity to weight ratio, and higher frictional loss, while the nature of a gasoline engine (tapering off power after a point) means you can have within ~85% of full power to play with at all times (usually over 90%) even with "just" 6 gears.