My Chevy Express’s transmission has the following positions:

P R N D 3 2 1

I almost never drive in gear range D (overdrive), except at sustained speeds above 60mph. If I use overdrive at slower speeds, sometimes the transmission will cycle between overdrive and 3 (third gear) as the vehicle accelerates and decelerates. The cycling feels indecisive and introduces unnecessary shifts.

When moving a few feet in parking lots, I drop it into 1 (first gear). Alternately, when driving on soft terrain, washboard dirt roads, I usually end up driving pretty slow and first gear yields the most torque and the least slippage. It also prevents me from erroneously accelerating too fast for the traction surface.

Most of my city driving is in 2 (second gear), though some downtown roads are 35mph, where 3 (third gear) makes more sense.

I know which gear to choose by intended speed range. As a fallback I listen to the engine’s RPMs. It’s a Chevy Express with no RPM tachometer, so I drive by sound. (I can plug in a OBD-II reader for live RPM measurements, but I rarely do this.)

Sometimes I rev-test it in P (park) or N (neutral), to determine if a certain noise is drive-train related, wheel related, or brake related.

Is this manual-lite? I don’t know. It ensures I maintain an appropriate traction envelope, and engine braking becomes predictable; the transmission won’t accidentally upshift beyond my chosen gear range.