What We Supply
- Dry ice
- Pellets & blocks
- CO₂
- Food-grade & industrial
- Order size
- No minimum — single-event quantities welcome
- Delivery
- Scheduled or on-demand
- Storage
- Insulated containers provided
Charge air temperature is power. Every degree you pull out of the intake charge before it reaches the cylinder is density you get back, and on a forced-induction car running back-to-back passes, the limiting factor is usually how fast the intercooler heat-soaks between runs.
Dry ice in an air-to-water intercooler tank is the oldest trick in the drag racing book for exactly that reason, and it is one of the few places where a consumable bought by the pound translates directly into elapsed time.
Dry Ice in an Air-to-Water Intercooler
The principle is simple. An air-to-water intercooler circulates coolant through a heat exchanger in the charge pipe and dumps that heat into a reservoir. Fill the reservoir with ice water and you drop intake temperatures well below ambient. Fill it with dry ice and water and you drop them further still.
Block generally suits a tank better than pellets. It sublimates more slowly, so a single charge lasts across more runs, and it is easier to manage in a reservoir than loose pellets that pack and bridge.
Quantities are modest by industrial standards — this is a per-event consumable, and most teams are buying for a race weekend rather than a production schedule. We have no minimum order, which is unusual in industrial gas supply and is the main reason racers end up sourcing from grocery stores instead.
What to Watch For
Two cautions worth stating plainly, because the enthusiast forums do not always.
Colder is not unconditionally better. Published accounts of dry ice intercooler cooling include cases where extremely low intake temperatures put the charge outside what the engine management could compensate for, and the car ran slower rather than faster. If you are running a stock or lightly modified ECU, the gain is not automatic.
And dry ice sublimates into CO₂ gas, which is heavier than air and displaces oxygen in low-lying spaces. A trailer, an enclosed garage, or a pit stall with poor airflow is exactly the geometry where that becomes dangerous. Ventilate, and never store it in a sealed container — the pressure will rupture it.
CO₂ for Intercooler Spray Systems
The other cryogenic approach in racing is a liquid CO₂ spray bar that discharges directly onto the intercooler core between runs. It cools faster than a dry ice bath and adds no weight in the form of a water reservoir, at the cost of consuming bottled CO₂ on every activation.
Refilling those bottles is a recurring problem for teams — it is one of the most common questions in racing forums, and most industrial gas suppliers are not set up to handle small, occasional fills.
We supply CO₂ in both food-grade and industrial grade. If you are running a spray system and need a refill source that will deal with race-weekend quantities, talk to our team.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How much dry ice do I need for an intercooler tank?
- It depends on tank volume, ambient temperature, and how many runs you are covering. Dry ice sublimates at roughly 5 to 10 pounds per 24 hours in an insulated container, and faster in an actively circulating reservoir. Most teams buy per race weekend rather than per run — tell us your tank size and event length and we can help you size it.
- Should I use block or pellets for intercooler cooling?
- Block generally works better in a reservoir. It sublimates more slowly so a charge lasts across more runs, and it is easier to manage than loose pellets, which can pack and bridge in a tank.
- Will dry ice cooling definitely make my car faster?
- Not automatically. Lower charge temperature increases density, but published accounts include cases where intake temperatures went low enough that the engine management could not compensate and the car ran slower. The benefit depends on your tune and how much headroom your ECU has.
- Do you sell dry ice in small quantities for a single race weekend?
- Yes. There is no minimum order. Small, event-driven quantities are exactly the kind of order most industrial gas suppliers turn away.
- Can you refill CO₂ bottles for an intercooler spray system?
- We supply CO₂ in food-grade and industrial grade. Contact our team with your bottle size and how often you need fills and we will work out a supply arrangement.