In an effort to improve my A/C performance a few years back, I covered my low pressure hose assembly with foam pipe wrap (typically used on 1/2" copper pipe). Someone on the forum mentioned this. While this seemed to help somewhat, the reality is I had a tiny slow leak that could temporarily be fixed with a top-up of coolant a few times a season. This past summer, I accidentally overfilled the system and immediately discovered where that tiny leak was in the low pressure hose as it turned into a large leak down near the engine block on the driver's side. Fortunately Mazda had 3 in stock in the California Parts depot. With the new assembly installed (and a significant heatwave here in southern Ontario), I was back in business!

Reading through the Series 1 Tech Garage, I came across this M-Tip instruction that when programmed into the HVAC controls, adds an additional convenience boost to the system by automatically setting the system to RECIRC when the temperature control is set to MAX COLD, the MODE selector is set to DASH vents and the temperature outside is above 68F/20C. Sounds like it won't work on early 2004 cars and has to be reprogrammed every time the battery is disconnected. I am also not certain if this works for Series 2.