Here's my input : this week I took both cars to one of my custom fantasy point-to-point track which aims to be a rally / touge course.
But first, the classic Trial Mountain lap times (comfort softs, ABS1, etc) :
Mine's Lancer Evolution VI >>> 01:37.329
Opera Performance S2000 >>> 01:36.215
On my custom track (downlad it
here), I decided to change a bit and fit sports mediums to both cars as to replicate asphalt rally tires after an oil change, and allowed myself to tweak the car's setups in the limits of what the stock parts allow after one test run. I then did 2 runs with each car. Here are the final times :
Mine's Lancer Evolution VI >>> 04:28.645
Opera Performance S2000 >>> 04:28.113
On Trial Mountain, the time difference is pretty massive, as is the difference in cornering speeds. Although the Mine's is really nice from apex and onwards, it has some trouble turning in with the front loaded. The Opera can count on it's light weight, aero and balance to get greater entry and apex speeds, but the suspension is quite harsh and doesn't react very well to bumps. Mostly, it will lift the front wheels and make you understeer if you don't get the right line. The rear end can also part ways with the rest of the car under braking, but you can deal with some oversteer without actually losing time with this car, but you'll have to expect it, or try to prevent it.
On the rally course, the times are much more closer, helped by the fact I nearly killed myself at the very end of the S2000's run. I would say the main difference between the two cars here is the following : you get a bit off course with the Evo because you braked a bit too late and understeered, while you get obliterated in the S2000 crashing onto a wall because your suspension literally told you to **** off on a bump and sends you instantly into a spin at 200 km/h.
The S2000 feels really nice on flat surfaces, and clearly more at ease than the Evo on high speed sections (especially after lifting up rear ride height, lowering rear camber and increasing the rear wing). It is also more reactive and can dive a bit better in slow corners also, and it has enough torque to rely on 2nd gear for corner exits. The Evo take advantage from it's 4WD and power especially on hairpins, being able to engage them with e-brake more easily and get full-on with the throttle early, even at 20-80. It also reacted positively to lowering the rear at the same level than the front.
Here are two pictures taken at the same place (at the beginning of the fast downhill section) showing the difference in suspension travel and dampening speed between the two cars :
As you can see, the Evo's Öhlins tuned by Mine's got enough travel and quick enough dampening to keep the wheels in contact with the road at any time, while the Opera's Bilsteins are pretty slow to react and make the wheels go off the ground when there's several bumps.
In the end, the Opera S2000 is the faster one here, but it requires more confidence to bring the most out of it, but over-confidence can lead you to a crash. But on most racetracks, it will face no problems, as it is clearly built with only that in mind. It's certainly more hardcore as well, in the way it's built the achieve such a low weight, and with its fast reactions.
The Mine's Evo represents well the company's philosophy : building not only something that is fast, but easy and versatile, even on open roads. But the corner enthusiasts will wish it had a wilder handling. You have to remember though it's a pretty soft tune, focusing more on usability rather than pure performance : the suspension can handle the worst terrain, and the power delivery, while being not superior to what you can achieve with a simple remap and peripherals on a 4G63, is smooth with a fast response.
The conclusion is much harder than I thought it would be : the Mine's feels nearly like an OEM+ quality build, while the Opera feels like a terrorist which doesn't want to negotiate in comparison. I'll give the edge to the Opera S2000 though because, as it was already said before, it is more of a driver's car here, and a mad guy like me has more fun with it, but the Mine's deserves the honours.