CVT vs. 5-speed manual "comparison" chart with the CleanMPG numbers ...
This combined chart has to be taken with with a large chunk of NaCl: different weather conditions; different rear spoilers (one drag-reducing, the other drag-increasing); and a big consideration is those 100 & 120 km/h figures for the manual are from one-way runs, not bi-directional averages. (The 60 & 80 km/h runs were averaged.)
Ideally, we need to compare 2 cars at the same time, in the same conditions.
It's still reasonable to expect the CVT to outperform the manual on the open road.