hey guys, i was watching a video of a dyno and as they were trying to get to a certain amount of hp, they added ice into the coolant and it showed quite a jump in hp, deffinetly something to talk about, what i want to know is, whats the whole theory on that, and what is the advantages to it besides the very small hp gain and what are the disadvantages if there is even any at all, any help would be appreciated.

 

You sure it was the coolant? I've heard of bags of ice on the intake between rounds at the track, or people dumping ice into their intercooler tank (for water-cooled intercooler). All those do is cool the air off before it gets to the combustion chambers, making it denser, and therefore allowing just that much more air to enter the cylinders. Something else that serves that purpose is the methanol injection kits you hear about.

 

Its basic physics (or thermodymnaics or mechanical engineering, call it what you will). The Carnot cycle: power you can get our of any heat engine is proportional to the hottest part (the exploding gas-air misture in the combustion chamber to the collest part around it (the engine, etc.). Change that ratio and you get more power. You can raise the exploding gas temperature by leaning out the engine, to a point (then you burn pistons) or you can cool the engine better. Cooling the intake also helps but because cooler air is denser which means you get more into the engine.

Still, putting ice in the coolant is a quick way to overdo the temperature reduction, and crack something, a radiator, a blockor the heads in a reverse-path coolant engine like a lot of GM ones.

 

they put ice in the coolant to lower the coolant temps. as when your running on the dyno your car is not moving through the air to cool the coolant. a fan in front of the car does not flow enough air so ice is added. it is only good for about one or two pulls till it melts and the temps go back to normal.

 

call me crazy but that ice couldnt be good for the water pump right?