The Barum Polaris 5 is a touring winter tyre with good snow traction, low rolling resistance and promising tread life. Wet grip and braking are its main weaknesses, while dry braking can also fall short.
The Polaris 5 is at its best on snow, where most owners who comment praise its traction and independent tests generally find it capable. A few owners disagree, though, and ice grip is less clearly established. Low rolling resistance is another recurring test strength, while projected tread life is good. Some longer-term owners also report slow wear, although more than half of the 14 reviews were written when the tyre was new.
Wet performance is the main compromise. Testers frequently find limited grip and long braking distances, while owners are divided, with more praising wet grip than criticising it. Aquaplaning results are mixed, with some good results but limited resistance in other tests. Dry braking has also been below average in several tests, even though some owners are happy with dry grip. Road noise divides opinion among a small number of owners. The Polaris 5 suits drivers who prioritise snow traction and efficiency, but those who regularly face wet winter roads should consider its braking limitations.
The quick answer
Owners say62%from 17 owner reviews31% would buy againRead the reviews
Strengths & weaknessesValue, WetComfort, IceRelative to its rivals across every test we hold
Built from every independent test result and vetted owner review we hold for this tyre - the evidence is all further down the page. Data updated November 2026.
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The Barum Polaris 5 performs well in winter conditions and on dry roads, offering safe driving behavior. Its low rolling resistance is a plus for fuel efficiency. However, its poor performance in wet conditions and low resistance to aquaplaning are significant concerns. This tyre might be suitable for areas with predominantly dry, cold winters but is less ideal for regions with wet winter conditions.
Strong: Snow Traction, Rolling Resistance ·Winner: Continental WinterContact TS 870
Every independent test of the Barum Polaris 5, newest first
In 205/55 R16, the Barum Polaris 5 is projected to cost €9.87 per 1,000 km to buy and run - about €395 over 40,000 km - based on the price, wear and rolling resistance measured in the 2024 Auto Bild Winter Tyre Test.
Tyre purchase + fittingExtra fuel vs the most efficient tyrecost per 1,000 km
Assumes a typical car using 8 l/100km (with rolling resistance causing 20% of fuel use), fuel at €1.65 per litre and €70 fitting per set of four. Purchase prices are from the time of the 2024 test; financing costs are excluded.
Across the 12 wet-braking tests it has featured in, the Barum Polaris 5 stops 5.6% longer than premium rivals, 0.9% longer than mid-range rivals and 5.3% shorter than budget rivals. It has a Tyre Reviews wet score of 63/100, and owners rate it 6.4/10 in the wet from 17 reviews.
How good is the Barum Polaris 5 in the dry?
Across the 6 dry-braking tests it has featured in, the Barum Polaris 5 stops 2.5% longer than premium rivals, 1.6% longer than mid-range rivals and 4.1% longer than budget rivals. It has a Tyre Reviews dry score of 50/100, and owners rate it 6.8/10 in the dry from 17 reviews.
How good is the Barum Polaris 5 in the snow?
Across the 12 snow-braking tests it has featured in, the Barum Polaris 5 stops 1.6% longer than premium rivals, 0.5% shorter than mid-range rivals and 9.1% shorter than budget rivals. Across the 6 snow-traction tests, it is 2.4% worse than premium rivals, 1.1% worse than mid-range rivals and 19.2% better than budget rivals. It has a Tyre Reviews snow score of 56/100, and owners rate it 6.8/10 in the snow from 17 reviews.
How good is the Barum Polaris 5 on ice?
Across the 2 ice-braking tests it has featured in, the Barum Polaris 5 stops 4.3% longer than premium rivals, 0.3% longer than mid-range rivals and 1.6% longer than budget rivals. Across the 1 ice-traction test, it is 0.8% better than premium rivals, 0.1% worse than mid-range rivals and 5.5% worse than budget rivals. It has a Tyre Reviews ice score of 23/100, and owners rate it 5.7/10 on ice from 17 reviews.
How fuel efficient is the Barum Polaris 5?
Across the 5 tests measuring rolling resistance, the Barum Polaris 5's rolling resistance is 7.2% lower than premium rivals, 10.2% lower than mid-range rivals and 9.3% lower than budget rivals.
More questions about the Barum Polaris 5(11)
How many miles does the Barum Polaris 5 last?
Based on test and owner data, the Barum Polaris 5 is expected to last around 24,987 miles (40,213 km).
What do owners say about the Barum Polaris 5?
Across 17 owner ratings the Barum Polaris 5 averages 62%. Owners rate Snow Grip highest at 6.8 out of 10 and Ice Grip lowest at 5.7. 3 of those reviews come from owners past 10,000 miles. 50% of owners score it 70% or better.
How much does the Barum Polaris 5 cost to run?
In 205/55 R16, the Barum Polaris 5 is projected to cost €9.87 per 1,000 km to buy and run - about €395 over 40,000 km - based on the price, wear and rolling resistance measured in the 2024 Auto Bild Winter Tyre Test. Of the tyres compared in that test, that makes it the cheapest to run.
What is the Barum Polaris 5's EU tyre label rating?
Across its range, the Barum Polaris 5 most commonly carries EU label ratings of D for fuel efficiency, C for wet grip and 72 dB for noise.
How comfortable and quiet are the Barum Polaris 5?
Owners rate the Barum Polaris 5 6.8 out of 10 for comfort and noise across 14 reviews.
How well do the Barum Polaris 5 wear, according to owners?
Owners rate the Barum Polaris 5 6.6 out of 10 for wear across 14 reviews. 3 of those reviews come from owners past 10,000 miles, and the typical review covers 4,000 miles.
Would owners buy the Barum Polaris 5 again?
31% of owners say they would buy the Barum Polaris 5 again, based on the 16 owner reviews that answered the question. 13% of them gave it the highest possible answer.
What do owners say about the Barum Polaris 5's snow traction?
Of the 14 owner reviews analysed for the Barum Polaris 5, 9 mention snow traction: 7 praise it (strong snow traction) and 2 criticise it (weak snow traction). One owner wrote: "Snow performance is suprisingly good". Read those reviews
What do owners say about the Barum Polaris 5's wet grip?
Of the 14 owner reviews analysed for the Barum Polaris 5, 8 mention wet grip: 5 praise it (confident wet grip) and 3 criticise it (weak wet grip). Read those reviews
What does the Barum Polaris 5 replace?
The Barum Polaris 5 is the successor to the Barum Polaris 3 in Barum's range.
What sizes does the Barum Polaris 5 come in?
The Barum Polaris 5 is available in 96 sizes, ranging from 135-255/35-80 R13-19.
Owners most often praise the Barum Polaris 5 for snow traction, though two report poor results. Dry grip and grip on ice also earn positive comments, while some longer-term owners report good tread life. Wet grip divides opinion: around one in five owners criticise it, although more praise it. Road noise also draws mixed responses, with two owners finding it intrusive. Two owners say performance suffers in warmer weather. More than half the reviews were written when the tyre was new, so the overall picture is weighted towards early impressions.
What owners mention most counted across 14 reviews
Tap one to read only the reviews that mention it.
Owner ratings averaged from 17 ratings
Owner score62%
Snow Grip68%
Comfort68%
Dry Grip68%
Wear66%
Wet Grip64%
Road Feedback63%
Handling63%
Ice Grip57%
Featured reviews
Most helpful 76%
“Bought these tyres last year for my 2015 520d, id never buy them but my tyre shop was selling them for really cheap with little bit older dot (2023), seemed good for ice and snow, rain is ok but during heavy rain i...”
“worst tyres ever i have. changed 7 year old michelin alpin to new barum polaris, and in all conditions it worse than old tyres was. this tyres are actually dangerous, should not allowed to sell. what they doing in wet...”
“I have driven these tyres through numerous winters. Most of my driving was woth 2004 Polo 9N but i have driven them also on 2008 Mazda 3 205/50 R17 and same size on 2013 Octavia III. Snow performance is suprisingly...”
I have driven these tyres through numerous winters. Most of my driving was woth 2004 Polo 9N but i have driven them also on 2008 Mazda 3 205/50 R17 and same size on 2013 Octavia III. Snow performance is suprisingly good, i have driven them in proper snow through mountains with 0 issues, they offer a lot of grip while braking and turning and are predictable. But that is the only positive, on dry they are OK didnt have any explicit issues but i didnt pushed them hard and used them mainly for commutes city/highway. Main weakness is wet grip especially while braking, i didnt have problem to lock out wheel when braking a bit harder on wet. Also my subjective feeling when turning wasnt best. Comfort wise they are ok... not too noisy. Wear is very good at least on my old Polo with proper rotation they still have 5-6mm after cca 40 000km. As this model is aging i think there are some better alternatives.
11%
Member
End of Life
215/55 R16
2,000 miles
throwed them after few months, i dont think thise condoms are safe to drive, because of low grip.
10 years old, used michelin alpin still better than this piece of sht
Check out how the BEST all seasons tyres perform against premium summer and winter tyres!
Bought these tyres last year for my 2015 520d, id never buy them but my tyre shop was selling them for really cheap with little bit older dot (2023), seemed good for ice and snow, rain is ok but during heavy rain i didnt feel much what the tyres were doing, on autobahn when you first hit some snow on the road going over 80kmh the car would wiggle a bit but then it was stable, comfort and noise are ok but there is a really annoying noise from the tyres above 130-140kmh.
Overall i would not recommend them as they cost as much as hankook or falken, but the polaris 6 seems to have a lot better reviews than polaris 5 so it might be a much better tyre.
They are still above 8mm tread after around 5000-6000km so wear is good.
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Ideal tires for my car. I have them for fourth winter now and i think they will last me for at least two more. I drive a lot on highways. I feel safe with them on snowy or icy roads.
worst tyres ever i have. changed 7 year old michelin alpin to new barum polaris, and in all conditions it worse than old tyres was.
this tyres are actually dangerous, should not allowed to sell. what they doing in wet roads is totally dangerous! in +2-5 celsius wet roads absolutely no traction.
I'm not going to buy them again cuz they're very loud inside the car, even at 10 kmh. They make a very low, base level thud and rumble as if the town fanfare beat 3 big drums... I've only driven them once, it was in the wet. They were brand new.
I've driven them on my Dacia Lodgy (2013 model). I had just replaced my Semperit SpeedGrip2 with them. I had driven on Semperit SpeedGrip2 for 3 winters, those were very quiet.
60%
Member
BMW
205/60 R15
2,000 miles
A Combination of Roads
Spirited
Surprisingly quiet, good snow traction, but quite a lot of wear and higgh fuel consumption, thats dissapointing because these two parameters were important for me and i guess for everybody who buys budget tyres..
As an update to my initial impressions review from just over 12 months ago I can only say am more impressed with these tyres as time goes on. When pushing on in dry and wet conditions at freezing to well above that they grip excellently and as a result my driving style hasn't needed to be adjusted (which is why I choose to use the right tyres in the right season). Snow performance is excellent, but I never push on in those conditions so have been nowhere near the limit.
In summary, they're safe, predictable and you've got to push very hard to get them to break away in UK winter conditions. Let's me just focus on enjoying the driving. Glad I broke clear of the more expensive brands given my experience with them, and these - every bit as good.
Brilliant Winter tyre, truly suited to frequent snow and ice.
They have so much grip in fact the only limiting factor is the ground clearance of the vehicle.
Dry grip is good and wet grip is impressive. Braking on wet roads, snow and ice is incredible. Better than the previous Polaris 3 tyres. These tyres are certainly for below 7 degrees, when the temperature gets above this the turn in handling and braking reduces quite quickly. The tyres are reasonably quiet and offer decent fuel economy. Only 5-6 mpg less that the summer tyres @ 25c deg .
Value wise there excellent, i got a set of 5x from my tyres .com for £58 fitted and balanced each at a local tyre shop.
If you live in the countryside or have a family or commuter car then these would be ideal, there designed really for proper winter conditions. If you have a sportier car like a jaguar or Maserati then I would advise you look at something like Pirelli sottozero winter or Goodyear Ultragrip Performance as these will perform better at higher speeds. But for the money you will not be disappointed at the winter grip and safety.
In this size very good.
Solid dry and wet grip, at temperatures below 5 degrees Celsius better than summer tyres.
As the temperature goes down the tyres work better even on snow and ice.
Excellent snow and ice grip, except wet ice of course (there is no grip without spikes on wet ice).
This is not a tyre to drive at the limit, but is excellent for the price.
After 6000km (at temperatures under 10 degrees Celsius) on front wheel drive car, front tyres wear is under 1mm, rear tyres as new.
Very comfortable, and very silent but Accords have good noise insulation so can't say for other cars.
Fitted Barum Polaris 5 after owning Sava. The car even being an awd is almost unusable during the snow, even cars with rwd on michelin alpin are doing better. Certainly not reccomended as winter tyre.
