For many manufacturers, the SEMA Show is where they introduce their new products, connect with distributors, and work on new deals for the upcoming year. When we stopped by Advanced Flow Engineering (aFe) we were definitely blown away with their overall diversity, and we could tell that they’ve been quite busy developing new products for the coming year. Over the past couple of years they have been increasing their product line to include not only intakes and exhaust systems, but headers, tuners, oil filters, throttle body spacers, differential covers, intake manifolds, intercoolers, torque converters and more.

For most of us, torque converters seem pretty basic. They transfer the power to the transmission and basically act like a hydraulic clutch. The truth is that they are way more complex and affect the drive characteristics way more than a clutch can. Don’t get us wrong, if your clutch starts to slip, driving isn’t fun either, but a torque converter can affect the torque and horsepower being put down, change cruising RPM, alter the way a turbocharger comes in, and so much more.

aFe realizes that most diesel truck owners are adding 100 horsepower to their trucks with the addition of a tuner, exhaust and intake system. This additional horsepower is more than what the torque converter is designed for. So, the stall speed (the RPM at which the engine can no longer increase RPM without moving the vehicle) increases because there is more power down low to overcome the increased hydraulic resistance of the torque converter.

What aFe has done is redesign the internals of the torque converter to “load” the engine more at a lower RPM. By loading the engine down low, they are able to keep the stall about the same as factory, but substantially increase the horsepower and torque being transferred to the ground at lower RPM. Just this simple change, can reduce the 0 to 60 MPH times by up to a full second without any other changes.

In addition to the large cutaway of a torque converter being displayed, they had a number of their diesel and jeep intakes on hand. On the diesel side of things, they have reinvented or greatly refined their intakes with the new HD Momentum line. These intakes now feature fully sealed housings to help keep under hood temperatures from affecting the intake air.

The filters themselves are much larger thanks to the slick new installation design. No longer do they have to fit through a small hole in the top of the filter housing, now they slide into the filter housing from the side. All of the joints now have lips on them making them proportional and easy to line up. In addition to the parts fitting together better, the clamping hardware has been upgraded to t-bolt style clamps.

On the Jeep side of things, their Magnum Force Stage 2 intake systems are a sealed box design as well. Instead of a clear cover to see inside of the air box, these now feature a brushed aluminum cover. These systems have been dyno proven to be good for 24 horsepower and 24 lb-ft of torque. Pair an intake system with a set of headers, full exhaust system, and a tuner to really wake up your Jeep.