The spray would work but 20 minutes of spray is a lot of water, and must be done just right to keep from wetting track and getting disqualified.
Math: The Iat is the heat of the air plus the intercooler heat that the water does not remove. You cant go below ambient for the air or the water temp going into the intercooler. The intercooler has to be above the ambient as it absorbs heat from the intake charge, which is probably running 300 to 400 degree after the supercharger so there is some necessary temp rise, and even with the water being cooled by the ambient air at 100 MPH, the water has to be above the heat exchanger to conduct heat into the aluminum of the h/e.
Yout IAT is 20 degrees hotter than the ambient, The intercooler is probably hotter than that so lets estimate its 25 degrees hotter, the water is about 30 degrees above the air temp. So if the water is 30 degrees higher, the heat exchanger is about 25 degrees higher than the air and the air does its best to hold the temps.
Youll never get ambient IAT and air is a terrible medium for cooling, note that hot pizza does not cool off when you blow on it.
One pound of air(about 16 cubic feet) has like 1/4 BTU of heat per degree of temp change, 4 degrees per BTU. Water is one degree change for each BTU of heat added or removed. Water is the densest material for temp change per pound, ie specific heat of 1.0:
Materials commonly used for thermal mass
Water. Water has the highest volumetric heat capacity of all commonly used material. Typically, it is placed in large container(s), acrylic tubes for example, in an area with direct sunlight. It may also be used to saturate other types material such as soil to increase heat capacity.
How to cool the car better, ie the answer.
1.0 Make less heat, drive slower
2.0 Evaporate distilled water by spraying either the intercooler or the H/E, dont even think of regular water. Why; thats for the student. I would do the intercooler -supercharger cause they are the hottest and would loose the most heat. To cool something you need to get the most heat possible and that is at the hottest part, ie after the s/c.
3.0 Use colder air, or water with a cooler ice tank but remember that 30 seconds will melt all the ice in a cooler if the heat is being adsorbed efficiently. Gotta remember that the car is like a small hot air balloon for heat output and the radiator is about 1/4 of the heat being rejected. THere is the exhaust gases and radiation taking a bunch and the last 20% is going to the tires as torque.
4.0 dont worry bunkey, the exhaust is some 2000 degrees and colder inlet will only increase the density of the inlet air a percent or so. 10 degree colder air is about 1% more power out...........
I have done most all of the cooling things and the hood was the last cooling upgrade, taking the air out of the back of the radiator to increase cooling and intercooling alike. Remember a cooler radiator cools the engine even more. IAT is just one parameter to consider here.
Be happy, Woody
