If you drive across Europe to Croatia 
in the summer, you will see the point. 
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That sounds like a great trip. Croatia is amazing too, absolutely loved our unplanned visit there, to Split.
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Have done exactly that, many times.
My first car with aircon was an absolute revelation for that trip
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The clue is in the name
It conditions the air to a steady controlled temperature- it doesn’t just chill it
I’d never have a car without it
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No, it shouldn’t.
There was a TSB a while back (VIN numbers before your aged ND) concerning some pipe which can crack. My ND’s air con wasn’t working the best (car was 2.5 yrs old) (only blew cold on the lowest level, warm on every notch thereon). When I had the car serviced I showed them the TSB, but the tech said the pipe was fine. He agreed that something was indeed wrong with the air con and said they’d contact Mazda for the next move. They rang back 2 weeks later saying Mazda said they wanted to run more tests. However, in that interim 2 weeks, for some reason it started working great again lol. I took it back in and they concluded there was nothing wrong with it! I don’t know what he did when he first checked it out other than close some air vents and look around, but 3 months on it’s still working fine.
If it is playing up, take it in, it’s under warranty. You should need a re-gas at all on a 2 year old car.
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While I think it was always an option, with Mk.1 cars it’s very uncommon for UK MX-5s to have had it fitted because back in the early '90s aircon was still regarded as something for luxury cars, not a normal option for small cars. Japanese Roadster buyers by contrast almost all chose to have it fitted. I do remember after AC caught on in the UK, maybe 20 years ago, Mazda offered a dealer-fitted package to retrofit AC to Mk.1 cars for £1,000.
My first Roadster still had functioning AC when I got it and I really valued it for drying the cabin and clearing the windscreen on damp days. Eventually I had to top it up with one of those R134a canisters to keep it going but it was a losing battle with the evaporator corroding away…
Now I would love a 50p fix for my aircon. It doesn’t work on my NC. Was your fix just for an NB?
It was just corroded connections on the 2 relay connector blocks. I just snipped them off & put spade connectors on instead. I have no idea if the setup is the same on the MK3 or not, sorry.
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Thank you.
If yours has enough gas in it then there’s not a huge amount to go wrong short of complete failure of the compressor. There is a plug to the left of the radiator just inside the engine bay. Unplug that and make sure it’s not all crusty. Check the fuses if you haven’t already.
I have an old post from @Roadster_Robbie off the old board saved on my PC which I have just managed to find on the new board:
post number 7 is very useful much like most of what @Roadster_Robbie says 
Hope that’s as useful to you as it was to me
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I thought AC would be pointless when I bought my NA. Couldn’t have been more wrong if I’m honest.
Hot days it would be great to have a cool blast on me even with the roof down. Same with mega sunny days and long drives. If it is a real scorcher and we are driving an hour to the coast sometimes I’ll avoid taking the MX5 as I once near enough gave us both sun stroke before we even got where we were heading!
Roof up with AC on for the trip out and then roof down for a summer evening drive home which I think is the absolute best time to enjoy top down driving.
If I had AC I’m sure I’d use the car much more than I do now.
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It’s great, had mine on all day today.
I shall be testing, thank you for this information.
100% of nc/nd sport models have aircon. I always have it switched on and roof off once the outside temparature reaches above 20F. How many of you convertible owners didn’t realise that you will also need to wear a cap/hat with a visor to shield against glare from the sun though?
‘How many of you convertible owners didn’t realise that you will also need to wear a cap/hat with a visor to shield against glare from the sun though?’
That remarks reminds me once of someone ‘reminding everyone’ that when using chalk in a gym to help grip the bar, be careful when you apply it if people are in your vicinity lol
100% of NC sports? Mine did not.
Just noticed you’re using Fahrenheit so am assuming you are either very old or from the other side of the pond. The UK models AC was a cost option and a lot [most it seems] of the first owners were too tight to think of their successors comfort.