Lotus Elise S2 111R versus Porsche 911 Coupe (992.1 Series) Turbo S. 18 points of retained value between them — ~£128 per horsepower plays ~£211 on today’s market.
The 111R is the smarter buy, and it isn't particularly close. At today's auction prices you're paying around £128 per horsepower for a car that weighs less than a grand piano and delivers 220 bhp per tonne through a naturally aspirated Toyota engine that genuinely rewards revs. That power-to-weight figure isn't a number on a spec sheet — it's the reason the 111R feels faster than its 5.2-second 0-62 time suggests on any road with a bend in it. Crucially, it has already held 86% of its original MSRP across recent auction sales, which means the depreciation curve has essentially flattened. You are not catching a falling knife. The 992 Turbo S is an extraordinary machine, but the numbers work against it as a used purchase. The £211 per horsepower figure sounds better than the £311 you'd have paid new, but that depreciation estimate comes from just two model-wide auction sales with no Turbo S-specific data — treat it as a rough signal, not a fact. More telling is that you're still spending somewhere north of £135,000 for a car reviewers openly describe as emotionally muted. Devastatingly capable, yes. Something that makes you feel special on a Tuesday evening back road, apparently not. If you want mechanical theatre, genuine driver involvement, and a car whose value has found its floor, the Elise 111R wins. The Porsche is faster in every measurable sense. The Lotus is better at the one thing performance cars are actually for.