Comparison: Barum Polaris 5 vs. Semperit Speed-Grip 5 (2026)

Wet performance is where the gap opens up most meaningfully, and it runs firmly in the Speed-Grip 5's favour. Across two shared braking tests, the averages are close — 36.4m for the Speed-Grip 5 versus 36.7m for the Polaris 5 — but the overall wet scores tell a different story: 70.2 for the Speed-Grip 5 against just 61.8 for the Polaris 5, a gap driven largely by aquaplaning resistance (73.9 vs 64.5). The Polaris 5's aquaplaning weakness has been flagged explicitly as a safety concern in testing, and its tendency to understeer on wet roads is a recurring criticism. The Speed-Grip 5 is by no means exceptional in the wet — its EU wet grip label is predominantly C-rated and testers noted some lateral grip limitations — but it offers meaningfully greater margin when roads are slippery and standing water is present.

Neither tyre is a dry-road star, but they have different failure modes. The Polaris 5 actually posts a stronger dry-braking sub-score (69.1 vs 59.0), and real-world owner feedback describes acceptable dry-weather behaviour, with one owner noting decent dry grip from spirited driving. The Speed-Grip 5, conversely, has attracted repeated criticism for extended dry stopping distances across multiple test programmes — longer dry braking is its most documented weakness, flagged in both AutoBild and ADAC evaluations. Overall dry handling sits close (Barum 70.5, Semperit 71.5), but if short dry stopping distances matter to you, the Polaris 5 is the safer bet between these two.

Snow is the Polaris 5's strongest suit, and Barum themselves position it squarely around family winter safety, citing optimised block arrangements and multifunctional sipes for all-direction grip. The numbers support this: a snow score of 76.1 edges the Speed-Grip 5's 75.0, and across two shared braking tests the averages are nearly identical — 30.5m for the Polaris 5 versus 30.2m for the Speed-Grip 5. The Speed-Grip 5 is genuinely competitive on snow and has earned praise for safe, precise winter handling in ADAC evaluations, but its weak point here is lateral snow guidance — a limitation noted in AutoBild's 2025 test. Owner experience with the Polaris 5 on snow is mixed, however: one reviewer praised it as better than the predecessor Barum Polaris 3 on ice and snow, while another on a BMW xDrive found it disappointing in real snowfall conditions.

Semperit's Speed-Grip 5 is noticeably the more refined daily companion. Its comfort score of 80.3 and noise score of 81.0 comfortably exceed the Polaris 5's 73.3 and 75.2 respectively. Where the Speed-Grip 5 falls short is mileage: its projected wear score of 55.5 is significantly lower than the Polaris 5's 72.4 — a meaningful gap that will translate to real-world cost differences for high-annual-mileage drivers. Rolling resistance is essentially equivalent (83 vs 82), so neither tyre holds a clear fuel economy advantage. For drivers who cover modest annual distances but value a hushed cabin on cold winter commutes, the Speed-Grip 5's refinement edge is genuinely noticeable.