Optimum intake air temp?

[Sachelle Babbar <sbabbar@iris.nyit.edu>]

I am running ram air on my Turbo through one of the headlights. It's
starting to get really cold here in NY and I was wondering if there is a
peak area of efficiency in the intake air temp. Last winter this was the
story: after running full boost for a hell of a long time on the highway,
the intake manifold, all the pipes, and interestingly enough, the cold
side of the turbo were all cold to the touch. The intake air is cold, say
30 degrees, heated by the compressor, then cooled again by the icooler.
I'm wondering if I've cooled the air past the area of efficiency(if there
is one) or if the colder, the better. I'm led to believe the latter mainly
due to the fact that the turbo heats the air anyway (maybe slightly in
this case) and that the intake charge density will make up for the cool
temps with volumetric efficiency.

Steve
'84  5ksT 1.8 bar