Hey, I'm always willing to give an opinion.
For what it's worth, Azenis do go off (get greasy) after ~60-65 seconds on a run driven hard. That being said, they go off consistently -- you know how much they'll slide before "catching". Most people bring one gallon garden sprayers and spray them down between runs, sometimes several times to get the temps down to ambient. Naturally, some people don't do this as evidenced at a test and tune this past Saturday -- Tom Hoppe (a nationally recognized driver) was putting 4-5 hot laps in a row on his STX prepared WRX that were 3 seconds faster than my times (30 second course) and he was observing 150-155*F temps on his tires via pyrometer. That's hot, but he wasn't getting any slower. And WRXen weigh about as much as our cars.
Now, let's look at the only other real option as far as price goes, the Kumho MX. They weigh a little less, but that's because they don't have as much rubber in the sidewall. They tend to get better as they warm up, but they also have limitations too in that they don't have that initial bite. Most courses that I've seen are trying to be Subaru-proof and not let you really launch hard by installing a quick feature that forces you to do a quick zig-zag. I like having grip here, hell I even picked up the inside rear wheel once this past weekend doing that.
I prefer the Falken compound, because you have grip from the word "go" and they're dirt cheap. I've gotten about eighty or so runs on them so far, enough to almost cord the outsides, and they're getting flipped on the rims as we speak so that I can get another forty or so on what was the insides.
Basically, the Falkens are the real deal, and the only reason why others in STS use the Kumhos is because Kumho will give you contingency money at regional/national SCCA events if you place well. In all other regards, they are an inferior tire.
