The objective of this research was to investigate the transient torque converter performance used in an automobile. A new technique in computational fluid dynamics was introduced, which includes the inertia of the turbine in a three dimensional simulation of the torque converter during a launch condition. The simulation results were compared to experimental data. Good agreement between test and simulation was seen across the range of data. In addition, the flow structure inside the torque converter was visualized and compared to the result from a steady-state calculation.