> In Europe, torque converters have never been much of a thing, historically because of the small engines [...] and more recently for efficiency reasons. The s

> In Europe, torque converters have never been much of a thing, historically because of the small engines [...] and more recently for efficiency reasons. The small-engine problem was basically just another aspect of the efficiency problem: Torque converters used to be so inefficient that if you had very little power to begin with, close to none at all got through to the drive wheels.