Our final season change of Series 2 is upon us, with the arrival of Spring, and the Hot Season, in Forza Horizon 5’s Mexico.
With a fresh set of seasonal events landing, players will have plenty to do as the calendar year also ticks over — assuming we’re all awake enough after the late-night celebrations.
It is of course the seventh time we’ve seen the seasons change, so regular players should be very used to the fact that FH5’s playlist awards points rather than percentages as with FH4. This takes a chunk of the guesswork out of what you need to do to secure the seasonal, and Series, rewards.
As with the first week of the Series, there’s 68 points on offer this season — assuming that everything works as it should, which hasn’t always been the case so far — towards the Series 2 total of 266 (or 263 for most players).
Series 2
It’s the last chance to pick up the two Series prizes this week, though if you don’t already have the first of the two there’s only a single set of circumstances that will allow you to still get both.
That means you should have the oddly thin “Legendary” Gingerbread Man outfit available to dress your avatar. It’s an exclusive Playlist reward consisting of a brown onesie adorned with icing and gumdrops, just in case you’ve always wanted to look like a baker’s shop window, and available for 120 points across the Series.
For the most dedicated players, the Lamborghini Aventador SVJ should arrive today — though a glitch with the Treasure Hunt in an earlier season meant it should have arrived last week, and another glitch with the Horizon Tour might have compensated for that for some players.
Nonetheless, for 200 points across the Series you’ll get this nuclear-option Lamborghini, which comes with more power, less weight, and a suite of smart aerodynamic features that made it the fastest car from the brand ever to lap the Nurburgring back in 2018.
This Series also sees Horizon Secret Santa taking place across all four seasons; this week might be the post-Christmas “Merrineum”, but we can always blame the postal service for late gifts.
The event is a community gifting challenge, which will reward player generosity with special prizes for all. Every vehicle gifted to another player — in Gift Drops, or by purchasing Forzathon Shop cars as gifts — contributes towards a community goal.
We’ve already seen the 50% target reached, with the Santa Outfit gifted to all players, and the top prize of a “mystery car” (likely the Peel P50) for hitting the 100% mark looks like it will follow later this week.
Series 2 will run through to 1430 UTC on Thursday January 6, 2022, when it’ll be replaced by Series 3. As the Spring/Hot season marks the final round of Series 2, you have until the same time 1430 UTC on Thursday to pick up as many points as you can in the challenges below.
Challenges
We see a return of the Treasure Hunt challenge this week, which is one that has already proven problematic this Series, along with the three regular events.
The Treasure Hunt clue for the “Too Cool to Air” event is “I hear 25 bels ringing in the air like it’s 1957”, which hints that you should be trying to score 25 air skills in the 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air (not the Hoonigan model) — handily also what’s in the thumbnail.
Meet the requirement and you should receive a map marker, similar to the Barn Find marker but red, guiding you to the treasure location, which is down at the airport this week. It’s a 50,000cr reward, and three points towards your season total.
The Photo Challenge is a bit of a strange one. #Unpeelievable needs you to snap the Peel Trident anywhere in the Teotihuacan location, but the car is also the 45-point reward for this season — so if you need these two points to get the car to take the photo to get the points, you might be a bit stuck.
You don’t need to own the car to get the rewards (which also includes the Air Guitar emote) though. Anyone else’s Peel Trident will do the job too — and you could always create a race Blueprint with the car and snap it that way.
Driftacular is this week’s Horizon Open challenge. Just enter and complete any Drift event in Horizon Open — hit the pause menu, go to the Online tab, select Horizon Open, and then Drift. You’ll get 25,000cr and two points, even if you suck at drifting as much as we do.
That leaves The Eliminator in its usual spot. As always, you just need to finish this Battle Royale mode in 30th or better — which is usually just a case of surviving a couple of minutes without being challenged — to get the two points and a Happy New Year! LINK message.
For those of you who’ve not already done it during this Series, the Monthly Rivals event remains in the final slot. You’ll need to set a clean lap of the Cathedral Circuit in Guanajuato in a DeLorean DMC-12 (just hit X on the event tile to enter), although the car’s awkward manners and the enclosed tunnel walls make it trickier than it sounds. You’ll get four points on all four seasons at once as a reward — even backdated to previous completed seasons too.
Photo Challenge: #Unpeelievable
- Cars: Peel Trident 1965
- Location: Teotihuacan
- Challenge: Photograph the 1965 Peel Trident at Teotihuacan
- Reward: 2 points, Air Guitar Emote
Horizon Open: Driftacular
- Cars: Any
- Location: Horizon Open Drift
- Challenge: Complete a Horizon Open Drifting event
- Reward: 2 points, 25,000cr
The Eliminator: Battle Royale
- Cars: Any
- Location: The Eliminator
- Challenge: Finish 30th or better
- Reward: 2 points, Happy New Year! Forza LINK
Treasure Hunt: To Cool To Air
- Cars: Chevrolet Bel Air 1957
- Location: Any
- Challenge: Score 25 Air Skills; find the Treasure
- Reward: 3 points, 50,000cr
Monthly Rivals: Cathedral Circuit
- Cars: DeLorean DMC-12
- Location: Cathedral Circuit, Guanajuato
- Challenge: Post a Clean Lap
- Reward: 16 points (4 added to each season)
Season Events
The regular events this week are joined by an EventLab race which might be familiar to those who kept in touch with FH5’s pre-launch antics.
This is set at the Estadio Horizon near the center of the map, and sees you driving a Ford Focus RS on a very short course. The twist is that you don’t have enough power to make the jump to the finish line, so you’ll have to follow the clues laid out to find three treasure chests, each of which boosts engine torque. Get all three, make the jump, and win the three points and the Knock Knock LINK message.
As usual there’s three PR Stunts, this week consisting of a Speed Trap, a Speed Zone, and a Danger Sign. Each is worth two points and gives a Wheelspin reward too.
For the Trap this week, you’ll need a 1969 Ford Mustang tuned into the A Class — so any PI score between 701 and 800 will do. It’s set at the bottom of the surfaced road to La Gran Caldera, so if you let gravity help you and run it downhill, the 130mph requirement should be easy… if you don’t care enough about the car to worry about slowing down afterwards.
The Speed Zone is nearby, between La Gran Caldera and Guanajuato. It might be a little tricky, as though the 82mph target isn’t that fast, you’re on a winding dirt road and in a C Class (501-600 PI) car from the Pickups & 4x4s class. Good luck with that one — and keep hold of the car for now too.
It won’t be an easy Danger Sign either. Again, 76m doesn’t sound like much of a leap, and with an A Class car from the Super Saloon category you should have plenty of pace, but it’s at the Boardwalk sign where the three-star target is only 15m more. This has a watersplash right before the jump itself, slowing you down dramatically, and not much of a run-up either.
The Gran Caldera volcano hosts the start of two of this week’s Seasonal Championships too.
Auld Lang Syne is a Dirt Racing event for any A Class cars from the 2010s — so pick something with off-road capabilities. Beat the Highly Skilled AI over the three-race championship to win the 2019 Aston Martin Vantage and the five points.
Meanwhile the Down For The Countdown event will feature C Class Pickups and 4x4s — so the car you used for the Speed Zone will be ideal. It’s a Cross Country event, with the ferocious Mercedes-Benz G63 6×6 as a reward — as well as the five points — for beating the AI in the championship.
Finally there’s a Road Racing Series event by the name of New Beginnings. Any A Class car from the GT Cars category is eligible — perhaps even the 2010s car you used for Auld Lang Syne, and we’d keep hold of it for later too — with the Ferrari 575M awarded for coming out on top across the three races, along with five valuable points.
That leaves the four usual online multiplayer events, so you’ll need to either play on PC or have an active Xbox Gold subscription to take part.
They consist of the co-op Horizon Tour and Horizon Arcade events, in which you’ll either need to work with a team to beat the AI in three races (Tour) or to achieve target scores in a series of mini-challenges (Arcade). These are worth three points, with no additional prizes.
This week’s “Trial” will see you using anything from the S1 Class and the Hoonigan stable, which will likely make a tough event tougher still. You’ll not only need to beat the “Unbeatable” AI Drivatars, but work with a team of up to five other players to ensure you out-point the other team.
With these very quick cars, you might see a lack of control from people who are supposed to be on your side. However, if you can succeed as a team, you’ll all win the Hoonigan Cossie and ten points towards your total.
Playground Games heads back to Ek’Balam, with its ancient buildings providing effective obstacles. You’ll be playing a best-of-five rounds series of Zombies, King, and Flag Rush games in a team vs. team event, and you only need to finish, not win, to get the three points and the Dial Up Modem horn.
Danger Sign: Boardwalk
- Car: A Class, Super Saloons
- Location: Boardwalk, Riviera Maya
- Challenge: 76m
- Reward: 2 points, Wheelspin
Speed Trap: Los Arboles
- Car: A Class, Ford Mustang 1969
- Location: Los Arboles, La Gran Caldera
- Challenge: 130mph
- Reward: 2 points, Wheelspin
Speed Zone: Punto de Vista
- Car: C Class, Pickups & 4x4s
- Location: Punto de Vista, Guanajuato
- Challenge: 82mph
- Reward: 2 points, Wheelspin
Seasonal Championship: Auld Lang Syne
- Car: A Class, 2010s
- Location: La Gran Caldera
- Challenge: Win the Championship
- Reward: 5 points, Aston Martin Vantage 2019
Seasonal Championship: Down For The Countdown
- Car: C Class, Pickups & 4x4s
- Location: La Gran Caldera
- Challenge: Win the Championship
- Reward: 5 points, Mercedes-Benz G63 6×6
Seasonal Championship: New Beginnings
- Car: A Class, GT Cars
- Location: Costa Rocosa
- Challenge: Win the Championship
- Reward: 5 points, Ferrari 575M
EventLab: Upgrade 2 Exit
- Car: Ford Focus RS
- Location: El Estadio Horizon
- Challenge: Complete the Event
- Reward: 3 points, Knock Knock Forza LINK
Horizon Arcade: Mini Games
- Car: Any
- Location: Horizon Arcade (any)
- Challenge: Complete the Event
- Reward: 3 points
Horizon Tour: Co-op Championships
- Car: Any
- Location: Horizon Tour
- Challenge: Win the Championship
- Reward: 3 points
Seasonal Playground Games: No Small Wonder
- Car: B Class, Volkswagen
- Location: Ek’Balam
- Challenge: Complete the Championship
- Reward: 3 points, Dial Up Modem Horn
The Trial: Tis The Season To Be Hooning
- Car: S1 Class, Hoonigan
- Location: Hotel Castillo
- Challenge: Win the Championship
- Reward: 10 points, Hoonigan Cossie
Forzathon Events
“The Cossie” is the theme of week’s Forzathon Events Weekly Challenge. You’ll need to pick up the Ford Escort RS Cosworth, in original 1992 flavor, to get started.
From there, you’ll need to celebrate the car’s homologation status by winning any three Dirt Racing Series trail events. Note that only these point-to-point races count, so don’t go entering any circuit-based “scramble” events.
After that, hurl the Cossie (it’s actually pronounced “kozz-eh”) about to pick up 100,000 Skill score across any discipline. Though the event tile says “Skill Points”, we promise it means “Skill Score”!
Lastly, you’ll need to treat the precious Escort, which is actually a Sierra underneath, with some disdain to collect nine stars from any Danger Signs strewn across central Mexico.
With all that done you’ll pick up the five season points and 80FP for use in the Forzathon Shop.
There’s also the usual Daily Challenges — one each day, with seven days to complete and worth one point and 10FP.
Street Gentleman is first up, requiring 12 Clean Racing skills in any Street Scene races. Just race without hitting immobile objects and you should check this one off pretty quickly.
Grand Touring follows on tomorrow, and it’s slightly more awkward. You’ll need to race in the Horizon Tour (so twin it with the Season Event) in any GT car. There isn’t a Tour specific to this car class, so you’ll need to wait for one of the A800 (using your New Beginnings car) or S1 “Anything Goes” events which pop up a few times each hour.
FH5 starts off 2022 with Rubbish, which isn’t a great omen considering how good 2020 and 2021 have been. The challenge here is to smash five bins in 60 seconds, so you’ll need to find a spot with plenty of trash cans to finish this off.
On Sunday you’ll be able to tick off the Ideal Make challenge. Just race and win any Street Scene event in a Rods and Customs class car; you could even pair this with the earlier Street Gentleman challenge for maximum efficiency.
Monday’s challenge is Route One, requiring you to hit a three-star time at any Trailblazer (and hopefully this isn’t bugged to only allow as-yet uncompleted events…).
There’s a mysterious one listed for Tuesday, by the name of Bunny Hopping. The description states “Airfield UTV Cup”, which is pretty unhelpful, but to score the point you only need to perform 10 Air Skills in any UTV in 30 seconds or less.
That leaves the final challenge for the week with Spotless Drive. It’s another Clean Racing Skills one, with 12 required across any Dirt Racing Series events. Again, avoid hitting anything concreted into the Earth’s crust.
With all of that done, you’ll pick up the Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder for 25 points across the events, while 45 points puts you behind the wheel of the Peel Trident. Both cars are exclusive to the Playlist, so this might be your only chance to get hold of them until Forza Horizon 6 is due.
The Lamborghini Sesto Elemento FE is the centerpiece of the Forzathon Shop this week, which again is the Secret Santa hub for one final week.
This special Forza Edition model comes with a Skills Boost across the board, and is only available in the Shop, Playlist, or the random chance of a Wheelspin, so at 600FP it’s expensive but could be worth it.
You can also pick up the Ford Escort RS1800 #5 for 300FP, though this might be one for gifting to other players. Also available is a Santa Hat and the Happy Snowman Head — the costume item from an earlier Playlist event being much more miserable — at 75FP each.
It’s worth noting that the Shop looks like it will change again on Friday. This was the case last week too, with a special list for Christmas Day before it reverted back to the regular list; we’ll log any changes for New Year’s Day too.
Update: For 24 hours from 1430UTC on December 31 only, the Forzathon Shop is offering the Porsche 968 Turbo and Toyota 2000GT for 100FP each, the McLaren F1 GT and Maserati MC12 Corse for 200FP each, and the Sesto Elemento FE at a reduced 300FP.
As ever though, the remaining two spots will be the Wheelspin (80FP) and Super Wheelspin (300FP) all week.
See more articles on Forza Horizon 5 Season Change.
