Barum Polaris 5

The Barum Polaris 5 is a Touring Winter tyre designed to be fitted to Passenger Cars.

This tyre replaced the Barum Polaris 3.

Dry Grip 70%
Wet Grip 71%
Road Feedback 66%
Handling 66%
Wear 68%
Comfort 73%
Buy again 57%
Snow Grip 73%
Ice Grip 57%

Tyre review data from 11 tyre reviews averaging 67% over 26,600 miles driven.

The Polaris 5 is ranked 70th of 96 Winter Touring tyres.

Latest Tyre Test Results

2023 Auto Bild Winter Tyre Test - 9th of 22 tyres

  • Positive - Cost-effective third-party brand with good snow performance, dynamic dry handling, high mileage.
  • Negative - Understeering driving behavior on wet track.
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2023 Winter Tyre Test 54 Set Braking Test - 14th of 54 tyres

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2023 ADAC 16 Inch Tyre Test - 12th of 16 tyres

  • Overall - The Barum POLARIS 5 provides inadequate steering feedback and precision on dry roads, requiring frequent corrections. The vehicle tends to oversteer during dynamic evasive maneuvers, earning the tyre a barely satisfactory rating in limit behavior. Its braking distance is average and rated as good. On wet roads, the tyre achieves a satisfactory overall rating, excelling only in longitudinal aquaplaning. It falls short in braking, lateral aquaplaning, and handling due to early understeer or oversteer. On winter roads, it also receives a satisfactory rating, narrowly missing good scores in traction and handling. Its ice braking performance is average. Environmentally, the tyre performs well, with good projected lifespan and wear. It also scores well in weight and achieves the best fuel efficiency in the test.
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2023 Tyre Tests

  • 9th: 2023 Auto Bild Winter Tyre Test (225/45 R18)
  • 12th: 2023 ADAC 16 Inch Tyre Test (205/60 R16)
  • 14th: 2023 Winter Tyre Test 54 Set Braking Test (225/45 R18)

    • 2022 Tyre Tests

  • 14th: 2022 ADAC Winter Tyre Test - 185/65 R15 (185/65 R15)
  • 26th: 2022 Winter Tyre Market Overview (215/55 R17)

    • 2021 Tyre Tests

  • 12th: 2021 ADAC 15 Inch Winter Tyre Test (195/65 R15)
  • 15th: 2021 Winter Tyre Market Overview (205/55 R16)
  • 15th: 2021 Auto Bild Winter Tyre Test (205/55 R16)

    • 2020 Tyre Tests

  • 11th: 2020 Winter Tyre Market Overview - 52 Tyre Braking Test (245/45 R18)
  • 15th: 2020 Auto Bild Performance Winter Tyre Test (245/45 R18)

    • 2019 Tyre Tests

  • 4th: 2019 Auto Center Winter Tyre Test (205/55 R16)
  • 21st: 2019 Winter Tyre Test Market Overview (225/45 R17)

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    Top 3 Barum Polaris 5 Reviews

    Given 74% while driving a Volkswagen Golf R estate (225/40 R18 W) on a combination of roads for 1,000 spirited miles
    Living in north of the UK. Oddly asymmetrical for a winter tyre, but not to detriment of performance. Dry grip at extreme lacking compared to summer tyres, as expected, but decent performance in wet and icy weather. This is from 'spirited' driving in all conditions. Unable to comment on wear at this stage. Having used Dunlop Wintersport, Michelin Crossclimate, Vredenstein Wintrac Xtreme and Hankook IceBear in the past these rate well with all, currently - but early days!

    Will update more once we've had decent snow but happy so far @ £70 a corner.
    Helpful 102 - tyre reviewed on October 29, 2018
    Given 54% while driving a BMW E60 530d xDrive LCI (225/50 R17 W) on mostly town for 800 easy going miles
    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.
    Helpful 56 - tyre reviewed on January 25, 2019
    Given 90% while driving a Skoda Rapid TSI (185/60 R15 T) on a combination of roads for 5,000 easy going miles
    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.
    Helpful 24 - tyre reviewed on February 4, 2019
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    Latest Barum Polaris 5 Reviews

    Given 13% while driving a Citroën Xantia TD Estate (215/55 R16) on mostly country roads for 3,000 average miles
    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.
    Helpful 6 - tyre reviewed on December 31, 2022
    Given 25% while driving a Dacia Lodgy (185/65 R15) on mostly town for 300 easy going miles
    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.
    Helpful 6 - tyre reviewed on October 21, 2022
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    Given 60% while driving a BMW (205/60 R15) on a combination of roads for 2,000 spirited miles
    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..
    Helpful 19 - tyre reviewed on March 7, 2021
    Given 79% while driving a Volkswagen Golf R estate (225/40 R18 W) on a combination of roads for 6,000 spirited miles
    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.
    Helpful 15 - tyre reviewed on December 17, 2019
    Given 78% while driving a Honda Accord (195/60 R15 H) on a combination of roads for 6,000 spirited miles
    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.
    Helpful 19 - tyre reviewed on February 3, 2019
    Given 82% while driving a Kia Motors Sportage (225/60 R17 V) on a combination of roads for 2,000 spirited miles
    I've had them on an AWD small SUV for almost 3000 km so far. They are very comfortable compared to the 19inch Continental Sport Contact 5 that I have for summer, but that might be due to the size difference as well. Traction in the snow is very good, as well as handling.

    I even pushed them on a winding mountain road, in the wet, and the grip was very good, though I wouldn't say they were made for this type of driving.

    Considering the very low price, they're a great buy is your a normal, everyday driver and won't push them to the limits all the time.
    Helpful 12 - tyre reviewed on January 15, 2019