Series 22 of Forza Horizon 5 is now underway, with a fresh set of challenges and rewards across the next four weeks as Playground Games shakes things up once more.
This Series the theme is “Upgrade Heroes” and it brings with it a lot of new cars and challenges, as well as a whole new Horizon Story and a new location on the existing map.
Donut Media returns at the center of this month’s action, following its brief debut in Series 14. This time round the car culture YouTube channel has a Story based on one of its better-known sets of shenanigans: Hi-Low.
That brings with it four new cars you can acquire through the Story, and also the return of the “Test Track” feature — with live, on-the-fly tuning — at a new multi-route, multi-surface course at the main Festival site. There’s new Accolades for both, as well as Badges for Test Track activities.
Further new cars — and Accolades for collecting them — come in the main Playlist, with five new vehicles consisting of two new-to-series and three returning. They’re available for 20 points in each season, and 160 points on the full Series Playlist.
Table of Contents
- Series 22: Upgrade Heroes
- Series 22 Summer/Wet Season Rewards
- Series 22 Summer Playlist: Forzathon Events
- Series 22 Summer Playlist: Season Events
- Series 22 Summer Playlist: Challenges
- Series 22 Summer Playlist: Monthly Events
- Series 22 Summer Bonus DLC Events
- Series 22 Summer Forzathon Shop
Series 22: Upgrade Heroes
This month sees the most amount of points ever available in an FH5 Series, so although the brand-new car is set as the higher-tier reward, you’ll only need just over half the points available.
Score 80 points and you’ll pick up the Pagani Huayra BC. It’s a car you can’t ordinarily buy, reflecting the real-life scarcity of this 30-unit car, so it’s a good chance to add it to your garage if it’s not there already.
The BC, named for Pagani’s first ever customer Benny Caiola, has more power than a standard Huayra and, thanks to a new form of carbon fiber, weighs 300lb less — and the regular car wasn’t exactly slow.
For 160 points you’ll win the new Formula Drift Nissan Z. It’s a new-for-2023 ride for Chris Forsberg (found under Formula Drift, not Forsberg Racing), joining the 370Z it replaced.
The car is based on the newest version of the Z, and uses the VR38DETT engine from the Nissan GT-R rather than the VR30 of the original car.
Series 22 Summer/Wet Season Rewards
A first new car of the Series pops up at 20 points in Summer, by way of the Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series.
This is an even more potent version of the GT R already in the game, with the V8 engine wound up to 720hp and a whole different sound track due to a flat-plane crank and a different firing order.
There’s also a whole load of aerodynamic add-ons which very much suggest where this car is most at home: on the race track.
At 40 points you’ll pick up the Lynk&Co 03+, a Chinese-Swedish hot hatch that last appeared as a Playlist reward in Series 12.
Based on the same platform as sibling brand Volvo’s C40 and XC40, the 03 is available only with internal combustion engines (including a PHEV). This “+” model sports a 251hp four-cylinder engine, and is the basis of a successful WTCC race car.
The Summer Season will run through to 1430UTC on Thursday June 29, while Series 22 will continue on for three further weeks until the same time on Thursday July 20.
Series 22 Summer Playlist: Forzathon Events
A classic Euro tuner car is up on this week’s Forzathon Weekly. Own and drive the Volkswagen Golf GTI Mk2 to get Playing Around underway.
It’s all about speed after that. First you’ll need to score three stars at any Speed Traps in the Golf, before picking up five Speed Skills; any class of Speed Skill will do, so just head out for a highway blast to rack them up.
Finally tweak the Golf into B Class (601-700PI) — a good chance to head to the Test Track and pick up a point for a Daily Challenge — and win a Street Race with it.
Completing that will earn you five Playlist points and 80 Forzathon Points. You’ll pick up double FP if you own the Casa Solariega player house.
Weekly Challenge: Playing Around
- Car: Volkswagen Golf GTI ’92
- Chapter 1: Own and drive the Golf GTI Mk2
- Chapter 2: Earn three stars at Speed Traps in the Golf GTI Mk2
- Chapter 3: Earn five Speed Skills in the Golf GTI Mk2
- Chapter 4: Win a Street Race in B Class (601-700PI) in the Golf GTI Mk2
- Reward: 5 points, 80FP
As with every week there’s a set of seven Daily challenges that come along at the rate of one per day. The challenges unlock sequentially, at 1430UTC, and you have a full seven days to complete each one even if that rolls over into the next season.
The first of the tuning-heavy list is Open Day. You’ll need to head to the new Horizon Test Track and, while there, spend 10,000 credits on vehicle upgrades.
Stunts are on the menu next with a Spicy Tuner Roll. Perform a Barrel Roll skill — rotating the car through 360 degrees around its direction of travel axis and landing safely — to pass. Find a ramp, on a Danger Sign or car transporter, and drive at it so just your left (or just your right) wheels hit the ramp.
You’ll need a Tune Up For What? on Saturday. Just win a race event in any car with upgrades applied — and that’ll apply to pretty much any race on the Playlist this week.
It’s a Snap & Snack next as you’ll need to take a photo of the Donut Media Merch Stall in Guanajuato. If you’re having trouble finding it, look right by the basilica.
The HiLow Story features in the next challenge, as you’ll need to make a Delivery Dash and earn three Speed Skills during the Hi Team “Donut Delivery” chapter.
Get your car to fit Like a Glove! after that, by earning three stars at the La Marisma Trailblazer.
Finally head into the Eliminator (for which you’ll need access to online multiplayer) and eliminate any opponent to prove it’s Challenge Accepted.
Daily Challenges
- June 22 – Open Day: Spend 10,000 credits on upgrades at the Horizon Test Track
- June 23 – Spicy Tuner Roll: Earn a Barrel Roll skill in any Japanese car
- June 24 – Tune Up For What?: Win a Race Event in a car with upgrades applied
- June 25 – Snap & Snack: Take a photo of a Donut Media merch stall in Guanajuato
- June 26 – Delivery Dash: Earn three Speed Skills in the Hi Team “Donut Delivery” Story Chapter
- June 27 – Like a Glove!: Earn three stars at the La Marisma Trailblazer
- June 28 – Challenge Accepted: Eliminate an opponent in a game of The Eliminator
Series 22 Summer Playlist: Season Events
There’s a bumper crop of single-player events this week, with eight challenges to work through: three PR Stunts, two Seasonals, two Event Labs, and Horizon Arcade.
Horizon Arcade — which can be completed in multiplayer too, as the target scores scale to the number of participants — just requires you to play through a complete three-round Arcade event of any type. Just find a start zone, marked by a pink circle on your map and a giant blimp floating above it, and jump, smash, drift, speed, and occasionally honk your way to three points.
The PR Stunts this month revert to requiring specific vehicles. You’ll be able to complete all three with one car though, as they each need an S1 Class (801-900PI) Retro Sports Car, and handily they’re all clustered around the highway’s cloverleaf junction.
None of the targets are particularly difficult, with 220mph at the Trebol Speed Zone on the highway probably the easiest of all. You’ll need a good run at the Cloverleaf Speed Trap to hit 200mph, and probably a different tune to score 75,000 points in the Drift Zone.
Seasonal Championships are three-race events against Highly Skilled AI — which also means you’ll start in eighth place each race. Both award five points for topping the championship scoring at the end, along with a bonus prize.
This week’s Seasonals are both Road Racing Series events. Have-a-go Hero puts you into A Class (701-800PI) “Upgrade Heroes” — a specific vehicle hopper — and awards you a Honda S2000 for overall victory. Take it to the Limit turns the pace up a bit with S2 Class (901-998PI) Extreme Track Toys, and there’s a 1971 Nissan Skyline GT-R reward car.
The EventLabs are more subtle than recent, world-changing efforts, but still relatively engaging and both award three points.
Las Granjas Circuit is a Road Racing event for S1 Class (801-900PI) cars of any stripe, and best experienced with a pack of vehicles; solo doesn’t really cut it. However you complete it, there’s three points and Donut Media HRSPRS Relaxed Tee for reaching the finish.
The Granithaupt Bergpass route is more involved and climbs up the north face of the volcano on a custom route packed with switchbacks. We experienced some frame rate dips at the hairpins on Xbox Series X, and the entire course can be bypassed by just driving up the mountain and back down to the car park at the finish. You’ll need a B Class (601-700PI) car from Japan, and you’ll earn a Donut Media Mo Powa Baby horn.
EventLab: Granithaupt Bergpass
- Car: B Class, Japan
- Location: Gran Caldera, Festival Gatecrash
- Challenge: Finish the race
- Reward: 3 points, Donut Media Mo Powa Baby Horn
EventLab: Las Granjas Circuit
- Car: S1 Class
- Location: Cordillera, Las Granjas Cross Country
- Challenge: Finish the race
- Reward: 3 points, Donut Media HRSPRS Relaxed Tee
Drift Zone: Las Curvas
- Car: S1 Class, Retro Sports Cars
- Location: Tierra Prospera
- Challenge: 75,000pt
- Reward: 2 points, Super Wheelspin
Speed Trap: Cloverleaf
- Car: S1 Class, Retro Sports Cars
- Location: Tierra Prospera
- Challenge: 200mph
- Reward: 2 points, Super Wheelspin
Speed Zone: Trebol
- Car: S1 Class, Retro Sports Cars
- Location: Tierra Prospera
- Challenge: 220mph
- Reward: 2 points, Super Wheelspin
Seasonal Championship: Have-a-Go Hero
- Car: A Class, Upgrade Heroes
- Location: Guanajuato
- Challenge: Win the Championship
- Reward: 5 points, Honda S2000
Seasonal Championship: Take It To The Limit
- Car: S2 Class, Extreme Track Toys
- Location: Guanajuato
- Challenge: Win the Championship
- Reward: 5 points, Nissan Skyline GT-R ’71
Horizon Arcade
- Car: Any
- Location: Horizon Arcade (any)
- Challenge: Complete three rounds of Horizon Arcade
- Reward: 3 points
We just have one multiplayer event on the Playlist this week, for which you’ll need an Xbox Live subscription in order to access on console — or play for free on PC.
Naturally that’s The Trial, a best-of-three championship that sees a team of up to six humans racing six “Unbeatable” difficulty AI Drivatars.
In this team event you’ll score 100 points for each opponent you beat, but you get nothing for beating your own team-mates. That means you’ll need to work together to help each other pass the AI while not hindering one another.
The firm surface of the Street Racing Series and the relatively low powered cars should make for some controlled driving, although the tight corners and tunnel walls in some races will be a challenge.
You’ll need an A Class (701-800PI) Nissan Silvia of any kind for the event, and victory as a team — which should happen in just two races — results in ten points and a McLaren 650S for all players.
The Trial: Tune it Up
- Car: A Class, Nissan Silvia
- Location: Guanajuato
- Challenge: Win the Championship
- Reward: 10 points, McLaren 650S
Series 22 Summer Playlist: Challenges
It’s a three-Challenges week this week, with Photo Challenge and Treasure Hunt returning in their normal format, and a Horizon Open online event.
You’ll need access to online multiplayer to play Horizon Open, and this week’s challenge — U Can’t Touch This — is to score a total of three flags in any Flag Rush or Team Flag Rush games. Selecting Horizon Open and then Playground Games will get you into the games, and you only need to play Flag Rush games.
In Team Flag Rush two teams of up to six players will take it in turns to either defend a scoring zone or carry flags into it, whereas in solo Flag Rush you’ll be picking up colored flags from locations around the map to specific scoring zones while others try to steal the flag from you. Just score three times in either mode to earn two points and a Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG.
This week’s Photo Challenge, #ShootingStars, requires you to pick up a Mercedes-Benz G65AMG and head to Mulege. Once there, find the Star27 Mural — just north of the very center of the town — and photograph car and wall to take two points and a Star27 Jumper clothing item.
Finally there’s the Treasure Hunt, which is also photo-based this week. As the clue — “Surely you can’t aford to miss this photo opportunity” — and In Focus name might suggest, you’ll need to take a photograph of any Ford Focus.
Once you’ve done that, a Treasure Hint will pop up on your map, marking an area with a purple zone where the Treasure Chest is located. This week that’s in Atlantes de Tula, with the chest itself on the east side of the central area; find and smash it to earn three points and 100FP.
Horizon Open: U Can’t Touch This
- Cars: Any
- Location: Horizon Open Playground Games
- Challenge: Score three flags in Flag Rush or Team Flag Rush
- Reward: 2 points, Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG
Photo Challenge: #Shooting Stars
- Cars: Mercedes-Benz G65 AMG
- Location: Mulege
- Challenge: Photograph the G65AMG by Star27’s mural in Mulege
- Reward: 2 points, Star27 Jumper
Treasure Hunt: In Focus
- Cars: Ford Focus (any)
- Location: Any
- Challenge: Take a photograph of any Ford Focus, find and smash the Treasure Chest
- Reward: 3 points, 100FP
Series 22 Summer Playlist: Monthly Events
The Monthly Events are a big deal this Series, with two sets of challenges linked to the new Horizon Story.
Each is worth 12 points — adding a total of three to each season, regardless of when you complete them — for 24 points in total, and they deal with the two separate branches of Donut Media HiLow.
In essence you’ll need to complete each branch, gaining all possible stars in all six chapters of each to score the points. There’s an opening chapter where you’ll make the decision to head down either the Hi path or the Low path, and you can revisit that to complete the other route later.
There’s also two new Forza Monthly challenges for the Series, which award one point to each Season regardless of when you manage to check them off.
You’ll need to set clean times at the courses indicated using the provided cars in order to get the points; setting fast times isn’t necessary, just keep it clean. That might be trickier than usual this week as we see another point-to-point sprint course involved.
Copper Canyon Sprint, which starts north-west of Guanajuato, puts you into the new Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series for the run, while the DLC pack Lotus Emira is the star of the Los Jardines Circuit event; maybe it’ll tempt players into springing $4.99 for the pack.
Horizon Story: Donut Media Hi Team
- Cars: Nissan Donut Media 350Z Hi (provided)
- Location: Tulum
- Challenge: Earn 18 stars on Donut Media Hi-Low Horizon Story Hi chapters
- Reward: 12 points (3 added to each season)
Horizon Story: Donut Media Low Team
- Cars: Nissan Donut Media 350Z Low (provided)
- Location: Tulum
- Challenge: Earn 18 stars on Donut Media HiLow Horizon Story Low chapters
- Reward: 12 points (3 added to each season)
Monthly Rivals: Copper Canyon Sprint
- Cars: Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series (provided)
- Location: Guanajuato
- Challenge: Post a Clean Lap
- Reward: 4 points (1 added to each season)
Monthly Rivals: Los Jardines Circuit
- Cars: Lotus Emira (provided)
- Location: Los Jardines
- Challenge: Post a Clean Lap
- Reward: 4 points (1 added to each season)
Series 22 Summer Bonus DLC Events
There’s a pair of bonus events in each of the two expansion packs, consisting of one PR Stunt worth two points (and a Super Wheelspin) and one Seasonal Championship worth five points at each location. It’s not necessary to get the points for 100% completion, but they offer a little bonus if some events aren’t to your taste.
Both PR Stunts this week require an A Class (701-800PI) Lexus, with the Hammer’s Shadow Speed Trap in Hot Wheels and the Canyon Danger Sign in Rally Adventure. The Danger Sign will be the harder of the two, with a 250m target — big for an A Class car — while the 170mph Speed Trap target is not much bother.
The Seasonal Championships are On The Trail in Rally Adventure, an Apex Predators race for C Class (501-600PI) Toyotas which offers a Renault 5 Turbo for victory, and Twenty Twenty Vision in Hot Wheels for S1 Class (801-900PI) cars from the 2020s and awarding a Hot Wheels Orange Hoodie.
Hot Wheels Speed Trap: Hammer’s Shadow
- Car: A Class, Lexus
- Location: Hot Wheels Giant’s Canyon
- Challenge: 170mph
- Reward: 2 points, Super Wheelspin
Hot Wheels Seasonal Championship: Twenty Twenty Vision
- Car: S1 Class, 2020s
- Location: Hot Wheels Ice Cauldron
- Challenge: Win the Championship
- Reward: 5 points, Hot Wheels Orange Hoodie
Rally Adventure Danger Sign: Canyon
- Car: A Class, Lexus
- Location: Sierra Nueva Devil’s Pass
- Challenge: 250m
- Reward: 2 points, Super Wheelspin
Rally Adventure Seasonal Championship: On The Trail
- Car: C Class, Toyota
- Location: Sierra Nueva Quarry Trail
- Challenge: Win the Championship
- Reward: 5 points, Renault 5 Turbo
Series 22 Summer Forzathon Shop
This week’s Forzathon Shop features a pair of potent front-engined, rear wheel drive monsters.
First up is the Aston Martin Vulcan AMR Pro, at 700FP (compared to two million credits in the Autoshow). It’s a hopped-up version of the already ludicrous Vulcan, which adds monstrous aero to the 820hp beast to make it even quicker on its only legal habitat: the race track.
You’ll also be able to pick up the Lexus LFA, an out-of-nowhere supercar produced by Toyota’s sports and luxury brand, powered by a legendary 4.8-liter V10 good for around 560hp. At 300FP it’s a good deal cheaper, but then it’s also only 500,000cr in the Autoshow.
Other store items this week include the Rawr Emote and the Donut Media Black Hoodie at 75FP each. The Wheelspin (60FP) and a Super Wheelspin (150FP) occupy their regular spots.
See more articles on Forza Horizon 5 Season Change.
