Has anyone switched from plain old 18" Dunlop RFTs to non RFT?
It looks like the ride difference is major on 20's, but I'm yet to see anyone switch 18s and see major difference.

Actually I did. I went from my 18s Bridgestone Dueler RFT's to Pirelli Verde's non RFT's. Big improvement in every aspect !!

Contis...There On!:driver: I know pic is sideways..Deal;)

Aren't those summer tires?
I was thinking to get summer tires, since we never get snow in Seattle. But then there's the temperature aspect. 6 months of the year temperature is in low 40s which affects the summer tires a lot.
So, going to be going with all seasons.
Thinking Conti DWS, but local shops don't seem to have that particular one. Due to frequent issues with balance on these tires, I don't want to be dealing with tirerack - rather deal with local guy.

Due to frequent issues with balance on these tires, I don't want to be dealing with tirerack - rather deal with local guy.

Please explain what uve heard about balance issues w these?

More than a few stories of vibrations with these specific tires (on this board and "the other"). Some folks went as far as replacing control arms, multiple rebalancing, etc, and in the end, it turns out the tire is bad.
Once that is established, there are costs in returning the tire back to tirerack, etc...
I am going off my memory here, but there were threads like that for sure. I will find a couple threads when I have time.

No, Verdes are all season just like the Contis. If you do a comparison side by side with the Contis, Pirelli Verdes are hands down better. However I do have the Conti DWS on my Mercedes S500 and I am very pleased with those as well.

I also did. I put on Yokohama Avid Envigor all seasons. They've been fine in the dry, rain and snow.

Thanks. Few questions:
1. Were your old tires bald when you switched to Verdes? Sometimes it feels like improvement when switching to same exact new tires.
2. What aspects got better? Less tramline? less harsh?
3. Any aspects got worse?

1- I had about 20k on the Duelers when I made the switch. Could not stand the noise that the Bridgestones were making. It felt like I had a wheel bearing go bad. So with the new tires Noise was completely gone and I could actually hear other things beside the tires.
2- Harshness was also gone with the new rubber. Lot of people here on the forum will tell you that they love their RFT. And how sporty they handle the car, as they make it more stiff just like the sport suspension and so fourth.....I can tell you one thing, having a sport suspension vs the Harshness of the RFT's are two completely different things ;)
3- Worse ?? Yeah, had to buy a spare :( Also the side wall is definitely softer but that was part of what I was looking for. I actually went back and fourth between the DWS and the Verdes but then I did some reading and comparison on the tirerack website and decided to go with the Pirellis. Very happy so far with them after the few storms we have had.