The first week of a new Forza Horizon 5 Series is now available, bringing a host of new events, prize cars, and challenges for players running along a special theme.
For this Series that’s “Horizon Road Trip“, which splits the action up into the different race types you’ll find in FH5. Each week there’ll be a series of events based on one of the four types: Road Racing on paved roads, Street Racing at night with NPC traffic, Dirt Racing on any marked roads, and Cross Country which heads out into the wilds.
There’s some slightly longer events available too. You’ll be able to race in a five-round Seasonal Championship each week, along with one based at the huge courses of the Colossus, Gauntlet, Marathon, and Titan.
New cars also appear, with three brand new models and two returning vehicles, and there’s a new “Evolving World” Accolade for collecting all five.
Series 12: Horizon Road Trip
The first week of a new Series generally means you can look but not touch, as the points required to pick up the Playlist rewards are out of reach.
For now that means that the new Audi RS e-tron, which you can win for 80 points on the Playlist, is ornamental, though you will be able to drive it in the Forza EV Monthly Rivals event.
As that suggests, the RS e-tron is a fully electric car — Audi’s third electric model — which is actually based on the Porsche Taycan platform.
Pitched as an executive car, the RS e-tron is a little down on the ultimate performance of the top Taycan models, but uses a similar twin-motor setup good for 590hp — with an overboost to 637hp if required.
For 160 points across the Series you can earn yourself the McLaren 765LT, which was previously available as a Series 6 Playlist reward.
One of the rare “longtail” models from McLaren, the 765LT doesn’t actually have a particularly long tail. It’s two inches longer than the 720S upon which it is based, but most of that comes at the nose.
However, as the numbers suggest, it’s up 45hp on the original car and with a whole host of technical changes it’s a breathtakingly quick machine even by the 720S’s standards.
Series 12 Summer/Wet Season
This week’s Playlist rewards come from rather different ends of the British motoring spectrum, albeit on a technicality.
The Bentley Turbo R is making its return from FH4 and is available only through the Playlist — pending any future appearances in the Forzathon Shop — for 20 points during S12 Summer.
Powered by an already large 6¾-liter V8, Bentley strapped a turbocharger to the car to lift power from somewhere in the low 200s to well over 300hp.
Although derived from the Mulsanne limousine — and the Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit — the Turbo R was designed to handle considerably better, with major revisions to the suspension. In fact the “R” stands for “Roadholding”.
For 40 points you’ll be able to add the MG MG3 to your garage. This little hatchback was the second product from MG after its buyout by SAIC, and was first made in the old MG/Rover factory at Longbridge before production shifted to China.
At 105hp it’s more of a warm hatch than a performance model, although MG did turn it into both a one-make Trophy race car and a prototype rally car.
The baby MG was first available as a Series 4 Playlist reward, so this represents another chance to pick it up.
Summer will last until 1430UTC on Thursday September 22, while Series 12 will continue through to the same time on Thursday October 13.
Forzathon Events
It’s all about Austrian brand KTM in this week’s Weekly Challenge. Pick up the roadgoing X-Bow R to get Arbalist (that’s a term for someone who uses a crossbow — we see what they did there) underway. If you don’t already have one, try the Track Toy Story seasonal championship.
After that, use the KTM to earn 12 stars in any Speed Traps, before going to pick up five Air Skills — for getting all four wheels off the ground and landing safely — to progress to the final stage.
There you’ll need to take victory in any Road Racing Series event (this season’s theme) in the X-Bow to complete the event and earn five points and 160FP.
Weekly Challenge: Arbalist
- Car: KTM X-Bow R
- Chapter 1: Own and drive the KTM X-Bow R
- Chapter 2: Earn 12 stars at Speed Traps in the KTM X-Bow R
- Chapter 3: Earn 5 Air Skills in the KTM X-Bow R
- Chapter 4: Win a Road Racing Series event in the KTM X-Bow R
- Reward: 5 points, 160FP
As ever there’ll be seven Daily Challenges for the week, at the rate of one a day, with seven days to complete each for one point (and 20FP) for each.
Prove you’re Ready to Race by visiting the Horizon Apex Festival Outpost first off; you’ll pick this up doing pretty much anything else in the Playlist this week, so don’t make a special effort.
On Friday you’ll need to go 90 for 90, by keeping above 90mph for 90 seconds or more in any Modern Sports Car.
The weekend starts in the Lap of Luxury. You’ll need to use any Super Saloon car to set a Rivals time at any course, but there’s a few conditions. It needs to be better than your own existing ghost and a clean lap too; completing the Monthly Rivals event in the Audi RS7 should meet these criteria.
Following that on Sunday is A Class is Best Class. Just use the Mercedes-Benz A45AMG to win any Road Racing Series event.
You’ll need to be a Pass Master on Monday and earn three Ultimate Pass Skills driving any GT car. These are only possible during races, and require you to overtake another car while extremely close to them and with a high speed differential; you may well check this off naturally in the Grand Tourers seasonal championship.
Earn 12 stars from Speed Traps in any Hypercar to clear Hyperdrive Engaged on Tuesday.
Finally keep it clean in Road Racing Series events to earn three Clean Racing Skills — essentially passing two checkpoints without hitting something solid or smashing into an AI car hard enough — for Keepin it Clean.
Daily Challenges
- September 15 – Ready to Race: Visit the Horizon Apex Festival Outpost
- September 16 – 90 for 90: Stay above 90mph for 90 seconds in any Modern Sports Car
- September 17 – Lap of Luxury: Beat your ghost and post a clean Rivals lap in any Super Saloon
- September 18 – A Class is Best Class: Win a Road Racing Series event in a Mercedes-Benz A45AMG
- September 19 – Pass Master: Earn 3 Ultimate Pass Skills in any GT car.
- September 20 – Hyperdrive Engaged: Earn 12 stars in total from Speed Traps in any Hypercar
- September 21 – Keepin it Clean: Earn 3 Clean Racing Skills in a Road Racing Series event
Season Events
The major difference from recent Playlist in the Season Events, which are all based around the Road Racing Series for this week. There’s two PR Stunts and four Seasonal Championships, with something of a change in store.
Both PR Stunts revert to the Super Wheelspin reward and two points, and you’ll be able to complete both using the same car. In fact you’ll be able to complete all PR Stunts this Series with the same car, as the only restriction is S2 Class (901-998PI)
For this week that’s the Coast View Speed Trap and the Hotel Danger Sign. Beat 220mph and 155m respectively — both handily above three-star requirements — to take the rewards.
All four Seasonal Championships are worth five points as usual, and you’ll face Highly Skilled AI as opponents. You’ll need to top the overall points table to win, however only two are regular three-race championships.
That’s Track Toy Story and Grand Tourers. You’ll need an S1 Class (801-900PI) Track Toy car for the first, which awards the Weekly Challenge-required KTM X-Bow as a prize, and an A Class (701-800PI) GT category car for the latter, with the Caterham R500 needed for the Photo Challenge as the reward.
Road Endurance ups the race count to five. You’ll need an A Class (701-800PI) Modern Muscle car for the five-round championship, and you’ll take a 2015 Chevrolet Camaro for the overall victory.
The final championship moves the other way, with just a single race: The Colossus. This enormous course also forms the final challenge in the Apex series, and you’ll need to take the victory in an S1 Class (801-900PI) Super GT category car. As well as the points, there’s a 2014 BMW M4 for beating the bots.
That leaves an EventLab race this week, and it’s a platform-hopping challenge. It’s a custom-made version of the High Speed Ring circuit from more recent versions of Gran Turismo, including the showpiece bridges and tunnel, and a pit lane too.
Unfortunately you’re only running the track on your own without any AI, but complete the three-lap run for two points and a White Modern Puebla Dress reward.
Danger Sign: Hotel
- Car: S2 Class
- Location: Palacio Azul del Oceano, Hotel Danger Sign
- Challenge: 155m
- Reward: 2 points, Super Wheelspin
Speed Trap: Coast View
- Car: S2 Class
- Location: Bahia de Plano, Coast View Speed Trap
- Challenge: 220mph
- Reward: 2 points, Super Wheelspin
EventLab: High Speed Ring
- Car: A Class, GT Cars
- Location: Tierra Prospera, Tierra Prospera Circuit
- Challenge: Finish the race
- Reward: 2 points, White Modern Puebla Dress
Seasonal Championship: Grand Tourers
- Car: A Class, GT Cars
- Location: La Selva, Sierra Verde Sprint
- Challenge: Win the Championship
- Reward: 5 points, Caterham R500
Seasonal Championship: Road Endurance
- Car: A Class, Modern Muscle
- Location: Playa Azul, Playa Azul Circuit
- Challenge: Win the Championship
- Reward: 5 points, Chevrolet Camaro ’15
Seasonal Championship: Track Toy Story
- Car: S1 Class, Track Toys
- Location: Bahia de Plano, Bahia de Plano Circuit
- Challenge: Win the Championship
- Reward: 5 points, KTM X-Bow
Seasonal Championship: The Colossus
- Car: S1 Class, Super GT
- Location: Tulum, The Colossus
- Challenge: Win the Championship
- Reward: 5 points, BMW M4 ’14
Players with the Hot Wheels DLC have a chance to score seven more points, with two special events on the five-mile high platform. They’re not necessary for 100% Playlist completion, but give DLC owners an opportunity to swerve the multiplayer events.
Your PR Stunt for the week is a Drift Zone, at the Turbo Knot to the east of the map. It won’t be particularly easy, requiring an S2 Class (901-998PI) car and a beyond-three-star 215,000pt, but awards two points and a Super Wheelspin.
Forest Falls hosts the Seasonal Championship, Orange Track Mind. It’s the usual three-race event against Highly Skilled AI, which you’ll need to top the points table to win. Again it’s for S2 Class (901-998PI) cars, but only Extreme Track Toys this time. Win to earn five points and a 1997 BMW M3.
Hot Wheels Drift Zone: Turbo Knot
- Car: S2 Class
- Location: Hot Wheels Park Giant’s Canyon, Turbo Knot Drift Zone
- Challenge: 215,000pt
- Reward: 2 points, Super Wheelspin
Hot Wheels Seasonal Championship: Orange Track Mind
- Car: S2 Class, Extreme Track Toys
- Location: Hot Wheels Park Forest Falls, Waterslide Speed Circuit
- Challenge: Win the Championship
- Reward: 5 points, BMW M3 ’97
There’s just the one multiplayer event this week, requiring Xbox Live Gold or to play on a PC to access. Naturally that’s the ever-present Trial.
For those not familiar with it, The Trial a three-round team championship for six human players against six “Unbeatable” AI drivatars. Each driver on each team earns 100 points for every opponent they beat to the finish, with a 50pt bonus to the overall winning driver as a tie-breaker.
That means that to win as a team you’ll all need to finish ahead of as many opponents as possible, and help your team-mates to do the same, rather than blasting off into the distance and smacking as many people out of the way as possible.
Thankfully it’s a Road Racing Series event for relatively low-powered, A Class (701-800PI) cars — from the Super Saloons category — so things ought to be quite controlled. However it uses some compact circuits which might cause problems if you have some very stupid humans on your team.
Working together for the win will earn everyone ten points and an Aston Martin DB11.
The Trial: On the Road Again
- Car: A Class, Super Saloons
- Location: Hotel Mirador Balderrama, Chihuahua Circuit
- Challenge: Win the Championship
- Reward: 10 points, Aston Martin DB11
Challenges
Three Challenges await this week, with a Treasure Hunt joining the regular Photo Challenge, along with Horizon Open — for which you’ll require multiplayer access.
For the #ApexSuperStars Photo Challenge you’ll need to photograph the Caterham Superlight R500 at the Horizon Apex Outpost near Tulum on the east coast. If you don’t already have one, you can win one in the Grand Tourers Seasonal Championship. You’ll earn two points and a Star 27 Jumper clothing item as a reward.
This week’s Treasure Hunt, Fast Track, gives you the clue “Stop playing around and be first to get this toy to the end of the road”. That should suggest to you that the challenge is to win any Road Racing Series event using a Track Toy car.
Complete that and you’ll receive the treasure hint, a red circle on your map showing roughly where the chest is located. Handily that’s also at the Horizon Apex Outpost, so you can head there in your Caterham track toy and kill two birds — and one chest — with one stone. There’s three points and 100FP as a prize.
That leaves the Horizon Open challenge, A Winner is You. Despite the name you only need to complete any Horizon Open Racing event to take the two points and a “You’re Winner!” Forza LINK greeting.
Photo Challenge: #ApexSuperStars
- Cars: Caterham Superlight R500
- Location: Horizon Apex Outpost
- Challenge: Photograph the Caterham Superlight R500 at the Horizon Apex Outpost
- Reward: 2 points, Star 27 Jumper
Treasure Hunt: Fast Track
- Cars: Track Toys
- Location: Any Road Racing Series event
- Challenge: Win any Road Racing Series event in a Track Toy car, find and smash the Treasure Chest
- Reward: 3 points, 100FP
Horizon Open: A Winner Is You
- Cars: Any
- Location: Horizon Open Racing
- Challenge: Complete any Horizon Open Racing event
- Reward: 2 points, “You’re Winner” Forza LINK
There’s two new Rivals events up for the month, both centering on the new Audi models introduced in the update. Each offers four points, with one added to each week of the Series — added to completed seasons if you leave it later in the month.
In both cases you’ll need to run a clean lap of the required Rivals course in the vehicle provided for the challenge. You don’t need to go fast or set a good leaderboard time, just drive a clean loop.
The Forza EV challenge puts you into the new Audi RS e-tron GT for a lap of the Emerald Circuit, over near Palacio Azul del Oceano. For Monthly Rivals it’s the Audi RS7 around the difficult Bolo Ocho course in Guanajuato.
Forza EV: Emerald Circuit
- Cars: Audi RS e-tron GT (provided)
- Location: Palacio Azul del Oceano, Emerald Circuit
- Challenge: Post a Clean Lap
- Reward: 4 points (1 added to each season)
Monthly Rivals: Bolo Ocho Circuit
- Cars: Audi RS7 (Provided)
- Location: Guanajuato, Bolo Ocho Circuit
- Challenge: Post a Clean Lap
- Reward: 4 points (1 added to each season)
Forzathon Shop
Two different ways of producing and harnessing a boatload of power sit in the Forzathon Shop this week.
Sitting at the front of the store is the Koenigsegg CCGT, an aborted race car from the Swedish supercar manufacturers.
Based on the CCX, the CCGT was designed to compete in GT1. Unfortunately, as it was somewhat overpowered, Koenigsegg had to remove the superchargers to get the car within specifications, enlarging the 4.7-liter V8 to five liters in the process.
However the GT1 regulations changed shortly after the CCGT had its first tests, banning carbon fiber monocoques and increasing production model requirements. Both precluded the Koenigsegg, and the project was abandoned.
It’s available for 600FP in the Shop, and as it’s not ordinarily available in the Autoshow it’s well worth picking up.
The Ferrari F12tdf is also available, but at 400FP it’s probably better to head to the Autoshow and spend the 500,000cr.
This track-oriented version of the V12 F12 has power boosted to 769hp and more than 220lb of weight removed, to allow the tdf — named for the Tour de France — to hit 60mph in under three seconds. It’s also the first Ferrari with rear-wheel steering.
Store items this week are the Farid Rueda Bear Sundress and the Parade Horn at 75FP each. The Wheelspin (60FP) and Super Wheelspin (150FP) remain in their usual spots.
See more articles on Forza Horizon 5 Season Change.
