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My wife has a 98 Town & Country, with the 4 speed and a 3.8 L engine. The phenomenon you were seeing is that you were driving it right at the low end of the speed range the controller is set to shift into 4th and then go into torque lockup. The torque lockup only happens at low to moderate levels of throttle input. When you give it a little more, it will unlock, then downshift to 3rd if you keep the throttle down.
I can get pretty good mileage out of it, some of the time. I have gotten as high as 29 mpg on a drive from Ventura to Long Beach, on hwy 1. I have not been able to get it consistently, but I think it's due more to the fact that I start to get impatient and tired.
On the fact that Chrysler was still selling the 3 speed auto, your right, shame on them. The mileage potential is improved significantly with the 4 speed.
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