i have absolutly no idea if this would work but im sitting in my constitutional law class and this idea just popped into my head. would it be worth it to reroute some type a/c vent into a sealed custom air box that would literally blow cold air into the box. i know it sounds crazy but i would love to see someone do it.

 

No

 

I think it would take more power to run the compressor than you would get in return for a denser charge.

 

It would be easier to build a box thats open to your air intake to hold dry ice. (edit I mean open around the intake tubing so it keeps it cool)
And that still doesnt work well.

 

I get the colder charge with the dry ice, but aren't you feeding it carbon dioxide which doesn't support combustion?

 

You wouldn't let the sublimated carbon dioxide into the intake tract, but still a pointless idea.

 

this has been asked before, believe it or not.

 

Ford did something like that on the lightning or whatever truck it was, but bottom line, not at all worth the trouble, especially on an NA motor, and even if you were running boost, there would be far cheaper and easier things to do for more power.

 

A few years ago on another forum I read of guy who used his HVAC to chill water for his intercooler.
He had cold air from AC blow over his heater core.
The cold water from the heater core was sent to a small insulated storage tank.
The chilled water was used only when high boost was anticipated.
AC Compressor was shut off as under high engine loads.

Normally I would think something like this would be useless since AC wouldn't be able to get the water lower than 55~60F and dry ice cold box would be better.

But ... this car lived in a hot southern climate so it might have a little merit in the summertime and he also had no use for a heater.

 

Any way you want to try to do it, there's a whole lot of maze to run through and only a whiff of cheese at the end.

 

Attach a leaf blower to your intake, more HP gains there.

 

Can't get around the physics- it would take more energy to run the compressor for the a/c than you would generate with the colder air going into the engine....

 

sorry to bring back an old post but i have one or two things to say about this.

one is this and the other being this

the latter one is more since-able. just use the heat from the headers.

the theory is there if you want to make a heat estranger around your headers.

 

While not terribly practical, yes, it can work. There's a 24-hours of LeMons team who run a 2nd Gen RX7 TII with an air-conditioned intake. They were running some additional hydraulics and air horns, so they needed an alternate power supply. They bolted a small gas powered generator in the back, and powered an air compressor off it to run their 'air brake' and air horns. Additionally, they bolted a small window A/C unit in the back (remember, these cars have only the windshield in them) and ducted that to the intake.

While I have no empirical data, only anecdotal, the team did say they could tell the power difference with the air conditioner running vs. not. The car usually does well, until it pops an apex seal. They have since quit running the A/C, but still use the generator and air compressor to run their air brake and air horns.

If you frequent LeMons races in Texas, it's the pink TII with the zebra stripes.

 

set it up with an insulated water tank to store the "coldness", pump that cold water thru a liquid to air intercooler, and put a switch on the gas pedal to shut it off at WFO and i can't see why it wouldn't work...

this is pretty much what Ford played around with on the Lightning pickups about a decade ago, but i think they just wound up going with a regular liquid to air intercooler setup on the production trucks.