Nissan CVTs (at least the Altima rental I drove) and a lot of hybrids also drive 'weird' in that they hold a constant RPM while accelerating, no simulated shifts. This makes perfect sense given the technology, but feels and sounds so awkward. Its all in the programming and customer expectations.

IMHO, paddle shifters or simulated ratios are a silly anachronism on a CVT, about as useful as a screen door on a submarine! For the street, you want max economy, which generally means the lowest RPM that delivers the required power. For the track, you'd want it to be at the power peak all the time like Jamie said.

It took a long time for manufactuers to get CVTs to handle decent torque, and theyre generally not the enthusiast option, so I would be really worried to bolt one to a tuned turbo mill and drive it agressively.