I know I’m supposed to like this car. It’s a 2,835-lb. roadster with 240 of Honda’s bulletproof horses, Exacto-knife build precision, and an amazingly tight six-speed manual transmission. Interior accommodations are firm but supportive, the price is reasonable, and the visual appeal is undeniably aggressive.

But, I’m a grown up now. The 2005 Honda S2000 is the car I wish I’d had (or had access to) in high school, back when having fun with a vehicle meant beating it to within an inch of its useful life. Like the withering hulks from those days, the S2000 needs to be abused to wring from it any real performance. The difference, of course, is that those relics from my teenage years cost about $33,000 less than this Honda and handled like Jello-O.

Fans of Honda’s VTEC system will suggest that I just don’t get it – the high-revving, lofty nature of these Honda engines is what makes them so impressive and, admittedly, 240 horsepower from a naturally aspirated 2.2-liter four-cylinder is laudable. However, that power is available at 7,800 rpm, and torque only measures 162 lb.-ft. at 6,500 rpm. If I’m going to push the tach needle that high, I expect to feel my back planted against the bucket seat – and that’s not the case with the S2000. There’s lots of noise, but this roadster’s power fails to thrill, and if you don’t delay the next upshift as long as possible, you put the engine into its gutless lower rev range and lose any momentum you’ve gained. And that’s too bad, because the S2000’s slick six-speed is one of this driving enthusiast’s guilty pleasures. -- Thom Blackett

Photos courtesy of American Honda