AFFORDABLE TWO-SEATER CONVERTIBLES

Warmer weather has arrived and if you have your eye on a cool new set of wheels, you're in luck. Now's a good time to buy a new convertible because there have never been more good, reasonably-priced roadsters to choose from.

In this slide show, we rank six two-seater convertibles on their cool factor, with five stars being the highest ranking. All of these models are rear-wheel-drive cars priced with a manual transmission. Insurance premiums and service costs are supplied by Vincentric. Take a look. You really don't have to have bags of money to drive a fun, sporty car.
--By Mark Solheim

SEE ALSO: Cool Convertibles That Carry Four

• Sticker/dealer cost: $53,335/$47,821
• Horsepower: 400 (zero to 60: 4.2 seconds)
• Miles per gallon: 18 city/28 highway
• Service cost (five years): $3,830
• Trunk space: 11 cu. ft.

The latest 'Vette is less muscle car and more Euro-style sports car, but it still has wicked power and generous cargo room. A little too much plastic inside can be forgiven.

• Sticker/dealer cost: $22,030/$20,399
• Horsepower: 166 (zero to 60: 6.5 seconds)
• Miles per gallon: 25 city/30 highway
• Service cost (five years): $3,279
• Trunk space: 5.3 cu. ft.

Lightweight and balanced, the Mazda is built to achieve a "driver and car as one" sensibility. Trunk space is decent; a hard-top-convertible version sells for a $2,815 premium.

• Sticker/dealer cost: $36,165/$33,553
• Horsepower: 306 (zero to 60: 5.6 seconds)
• Miles per gallon: 19 city/25 highway
• Service cost (five years): $3,281
• Trunk space: 4.1 cu. ft.

Speed and exuberant owners make the Z the most expensive of the bunch to insure. Trunk volume is stingy, too, but it has better center-console storage than the others.

• Sticker/dealer cost: $46,395/$40,543
• Horsepower: 245 (zero to 60: 5.1 seconds)
• Miles per gallon: 20 city/29 highway
• Service cost (five years): $4,895
• Trunk space: 9.5 cu. ft.

The Boxster corners and brakes like a dream. The engine is placed mid car, so there's storage fore and aft. But options can run up the price, and service costs are steep.

• Sticker/dealer cost: $29,025/$27,177
• Horsepower: 260 (zero to 60: 5.7 seconds)
• Miles per gallon: 22 city/31 highway
• Service cost (five years): $4,044
• Trunk space: 5.4 cu. ft.

Beautiful, fast and fun to drive. But rear and over-the-shoulder visibility is poor. Putting the top up and down is time-consuming, and trunk space is tiny.

• Sticker/dealer cost: $34,845/$31,433
• Horsepower: 237 (zero to 60: 5.8 seconds)
• Miles per gallon: 20 city/26 highway
• Service cost (five years): $4,679
• Trunk space: 5 cu. ft.

A pure roadster with a no-frills design, the S2000 hits the sweet spot on the price/performance continuum. Handling is superb thanks to a 50-50 front-rear weight distribution, and its modest horsepower from the VTEC four-cylinder engine belies its speedy acceleration. The power top is simple to drop, too. And although cargo space doesn't appear capacious, you can fit several grocery bags in the trunk.