RoadX RXFrost FX11 Winter Tire Review

This review is for all my fellow cold-climate, budget car enthusiasts.

We are the few who either can’t afford the cost, or do not have the space, for both a summer and a winter car. For better or worse, we’re locked into a one car solution. We will not let this dampen our love for automobiles though. We’re fully aware that a vehicle that must be driven all year around, even during winter’s worst. But we’re not about to settle for something sensible and ordinary. Our vehicles need to bring us joy.

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That’s how I ended up with my current car, an original 2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe 2.0T. Bought for an incredibly low price, this car is a nice balance of practicality, fun, and reliability. It’s a turbocharged, rear-wheel drive coupe with a six-speed manual transmission. Fun to toss around most of the year, with an open rear differential and short-ratio gearbox, it’s not exactly the best recipe for wintery conditions.

But, if you’re like me, you relish driving something like this in conditions that would keep most folks indoors. That is, of course, if it has the right tires.

The company shipped me a brand new set of RoadX RXFrost FX11 tires. It’s a studdable winter tire that features a typical tread pattern designed to excel in snow and ice. Without going off into too many technical details, RoadX focused on the tires siping and rubber compound.

In preparation of winter, the tires were installed on my Genesis Coupe in November. I downsized the wheels one inch to gain more sidewall as well as narrowed the tread pattern by 10 mm up front and 20 mm in the rear. That leaves me with 215/55R17 front tires and 225/55R17 rear tires.

My initial impressions on the RXFrost FX11 tires are that they’re smooth on a variety of surfaces and behave similarly to my all-season tires in dry conditions. In fact, the extra softness from added sidewall makes for a smoother ride. There is a bit more road vibration making its way into the car’s cabin and the tires do produce addition hum on paved surfaces.

One thing I will mention when getting these tires installed, is make sure you have a chance to break them in over a few days on dry pavement. Tires can come coated in natural rubber oils that need to be scrubbed off after installation. Performing this break-in period during a torrential downpour is not the best idea. For me, it took about two 20-minute drives for the oils to be completely gone.

For the first two months of driving, I only experienced these tires in light winter conditions, as it has been a mild winter with minimal snow and ice. The bit of foul weather we did get allowed me to get a sample of how the RXFrost FX11 tires behaved in slippery conditions.

In shallow snow, slush, and ice, they perform predictably and what I expect from winter tires. On moderate inclines, from a dead stop, tire slip is held to a minimum and much better than other winter tires I’ve had on this car.

When it comes to cornering grip in slush and ice, The RoadX tires exceeded my expectations. The front tires provide plenty of bite and only give up grip when pushed beyond reasonable limits for the conditions. It’s a similar story for the rear tires that hang on longer than I imagined, given the tail happy nature of the Genesis Coupe.

Braking is about average for winter tires, stopping predictably without excessive amounts of slip and slide.

Since winter wasn’t finding me this year, against my better judgement, I decided to find winter. That meant a five-hour road trip to northern Montreal where winter was in full effect. Of course, Murphy’s Law was in full effect and the day I decided to leave we received our first real snowstorm.

During the drive I ran into just about every possible condition. Wet roads, slushy roads, icy roads, snow covered roads complete with whiteout conditions; if winter has it, I saw it. Regardless of what was happening outside, the RXFrost tires gripped well and kept my car pointing straight. Even on uneven surfaces, the car didn’t get pulled to one side by ruts or snowy berms.

The RoadX RXFrost FX11 is available in 41 sizes for wheels ranging from 14 to 19 inches in diameter. After a winter of testing, I can honestly say these are the best winter tires I’ve had on my Genesis Coupe. Are they the best winter tires I have ever used? No, not at all. But that’s sort of the point.

RoadX is not trying to be the absolute best performing tire available. The company’s goal is to create a tire with similar levels of performance of the best tires on the market, but at a much lower price. Here the brand has succeeded.

Maybe more importantly, is the fact I haven’t gotten stuck with the Genesis yet, which alone is a great testament to the tires.

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