[redpoint5]

I've argued this before, but my TSX has a close ratio 6-speed manual that revs high. The 6th gear is worthless on a race track because you would never top out 5th, even on the longest of straights. 6th is also worthless as a cruising gear because it revs at 3000 RPM @ 70 MPH. That's 43 revs per MPH!

The gearbox is brilliant with the exception of the worthless 6th gear. I imagine many vehicle suffer the same problem of the top gear being too short for efficient cruising, and too tall to be used as a gear to accelerate quickly in.

My guess is that some focus group determined that drivers (aka idiots) would give up cruising fuel economy for not having to downshift on steep hills.

In my TSX, I can climb a hill going 75 MPH in 6th gear, and never have to downshift. Going the other direction back down the hill and coasting, I hit 80 MPH. On a hill that steep, I should have to downshift. The Camry has a taller top gear, but even in that I can sustain 65 MPH going up the hill I just described while barely keeping it in top gear (engine load ~90%). Using the same gear to climb a massive hill and cruise a flat highway is insanity.