from personal experience....
i've had a set of Falken Azenis 205/50/15 now for, well, since June or July. This car is my daily driver (check out my website for more info). The tires grip like lint rollers... they're awesome. With my springs and struts, it's pretty scary what the car can do. I've been autox'ing with these tires, and I couldn't make them even chirp. They make more of a "hollow scraping" sound when they do break loose, and only chirp when you suddenly catch traction after sliding. My friend Michael also has these, and he can do a 40-foot burnout in his Focus, without a single shirp or squwak. I'm guessing that with a stock suspension (I have -1.8 degrees camber front, -1.5 degrees rear) the tires will chirp and roll over onto the sidewall more than mine, especially if you're going with a 60-series (taller sidewall). One thing for sure I can say about the Azenis is that you WILL be running MUCH higher tire pressures than normal street tires. I think maximum cold tire pressure is 52psi. I usually run like 40psi front and 38psi rear, and then I'm usually up in the low-to-mid 40's for AutoX and running the
Dragon (Hwy 129).
The most noticeable thing about the tires (see my website gallery for a quick photo) is the tread pattern. It's not directional, but it does have an inside & outside. But the really interesting thing is the SIZE of the tread. Think of it in comparison to another tire, like the ones you have now. The little tiny patches of tread, as you're cutting down the backroads, tend to squirm, and give, thereby interrupting your line. This contributes a lot to the noise I remember having from my Kumho 712's. It was all about the tread pattern. Sure, I felt more confident on the Kumho's in the rain, but anywhere else I would rather have the Azenis (except ice or snow, of course). The Azenis just have those wide, road-handling tread patches.... and they really do make a difference. I've gotten to REALLY like these tires.
Let me know if you have any specific questions about the Azenis!! E-mail me if I happen to ignore a particular post for a day or two.
My rant about dynamic balancing :
I paid a local guy to order the set of tires for me, and do a mount and balance. Total was about $360. I paid the extra money to do it through him, because he has a really cool balancing machine that is hard to come by. It's a dynamic balancing machine. This is in contrast to a low-rpm "static balancing" machine that just uses crimp weights (in the heavier, ounce weights) to balance only the outside of the wheel at low RPM. The dynamic balancing machine will grasp the wheel at center, and then the technician will hand-crank the wheel to a certain speed, and the machine beeps to say "let go". As the wheel slows itself down, the machine first calculates both where on the outer rim to place a weight, and how many
GRAMS should be placed there. If you've never used this machine, please use the included brake to slow down the wheel... don't grab it or push it to slow it down. The best weight placement is on the outer-most (curb-side) edge of the rim, using the more accurate gram weights.... and I would recommend using stick-on weights. This may be unsightly, but the advantages are worth the eyesore, IMO. You can place them towards the middle of the rim, but then your balance is not as accurate. Then, back to the spinning.... the technician spins the wheel again, this time calibrating for the balance on the inside of the wheel. This is again done with precision gram weights and stick-ons. Note: the stick-ons can be easily cut into slices for parts of a gram, where solid ounce weights are just WYSIWYG. Before you do a dynamic balance, it's important that you clean your wheels thouroughly, then get the new tires installed. After you put a few miles on the tires, and heat-cycle them (say, 15-20 miles of easy driving), then check your alignment. A simple cut of dental floss is all that is required to check your alignment. After a dynamic balance, you'll notice that you have a new road feel at 50mph+. It should feel a lot different. The dynamic balancing not only makes the car handle better, but puts less strain on your suspension, and tends to keep more tire patch on the road.
Okay, sorry about the rant.