Granted, the overall cost of energy involved in this setup would be prohibitive. But, I must mention that the Civic has a resonance chamber plumbed before the air filter almost in front of the front left wheel well. I am guessing that there would be about 2-3 feet of air intake (I haven't measured, sorry). Air enters right behind the driver side headlight, drops down below the battery, to the resonance chamber, then back up to the side of the engine where the air filter is located.
Theoretically dropping a couple of cubes of dry ice into the air intake would get stuck in the resonance chamber and not really close to anything hot.
I have never played around with dry ice, and I do not know how quickly it sublimates, but surely it could last long enough to drive a few hundred miles? Long enough for a personal record breaking run?
I have the feeling like this idea will not take off until I go from theory to practice.
I do not have an idea if this would be even financially viable - probably not! - but after seeing racing cars using dry ice to cool off the air to their radiators before the air passes through the radiator, something must have been planted in my mind.
Oh, and for everyone asking "why?": I am very shy of actually chopping around on my vehicle because a) it is relatively new, and b) it is the only vehicle in our household and my wife would not appreciate walking to work in the pacific NW rainy winters. Therefore I am limited to non-invasive mods - if there is such a thing.
Thanks for the feedback entertaining my wacky ideas. If not here, then where, right?
