Forza Horizon 5 Season Change: Euro Beat

Andrew Evans · · Comments

Forza Horizon 5’s Europe-themed month continues as a new week of events begins today.

It’s the second week in the current Series, officially called European Automotive, which features challenges and rewards all based around the best European cars around. Okay, and some of the quirky stuff too.

After some visually busy recent series, Series 31 is a bit of a return to the baseline. There’s no gaudy map decor or location makeovers this month, allowing players to remember what the Stadium used to look like back before the dragons, toboggan runs, and short-track ovals.

That shifts focus onto the cars, and there’s eight new vehicles — and an Evolving World Accolade for grabbing them all — this month. Unusually, only four are overall Playlist rewards, with the others requiring some very specific actions each week…

If that’s not quite enough for you, there’s another paid-DLC car pack which, yes, features Series-appropriate cars. That’s the European Automotive Pack, with four performance cars from the continent’s last 40 years.

There’s also a whole new set of props for EventLab, including a set of six new dinosaurs if you feel like recreating Isla Nublar on the mainland. Or you could heed what the movies told you and not do that…

Table of Contents

Series 31: European Automotive

With the new cars arriving as seasonal and event rewards, there’s two familiar faces up as Series rewarrds. However neither are available through the Autoshow, so this is a good chance to collect them if you’ve previously missed out — or just want more.

Scoring 80 points will gift you the Ferrari 575M, the last of the 550-generation of the front-engined, V12 grand tourer before it was replaced by the 612-based 599.

As the name rather suggests, the 575M featured a larger, more powerful engine than the original, as well as the first ever automated manual F1-style gearbox on a Ferrari V12. Other modifications mainly centered on optimizing handling, with the styling wisely left alone for the most part.

You might have struggled to believe that just 20 years after the 575M you could pick up a family wagon with 100hp more, but that’s exactly what the second reward car is.

The 2021 Audi RS6 Avant is the 160-point car, and with its twin-turbocharged, four-liter V8 it’s capable of carrying three more people and all their luggage, much quicker than the two-seat Ferrari.

It’ll also do it in all weathers, courtesy of the Audi-traditional all-wheel drive system, although top speed is limited to 155mph. Except in Forza, of course…

Series 31 Autumn/Storm Season Rewards

There’s a touch of the modern mass-market in this week’s first reward, as you’ll pick up the 2021 Volkswagen ID.4 for 20 points.

Part of the company’s all-electric ID sub-brand — which includes the ID.R time attack car and the ID.Buzz minivan — the ID.4 is what VW thinks will be the core of its market soon: an EV SUV.

Roughly the same size as the company’s combustion-powered Tiguan, the ID.4 is likely to resemble much of the European car parc when regulations on phasing out fossil fuel-burning cars in the next decade.

Oddly, despite the game’s update notes suggesting that this is the all-wheel drive, dual-motor GTX with 295hp, it’s actually the rear-wheel drive, single-motor model rated at just 201hp.

Hit 40 points — which will require every event you can do if you don’t have either the DLC expansions or an Xbox Core subscription — and you’ll earn yourself the ATS GT, which is one of the more curious British-Italian collaborations out there.

It’s based on the McLaren 12c/650S, and retains pretty much everything from that car but the looks. ATS redesigned it, inside and out, to resemble the classic ATS 2500GT in a subsequently stalled attempt to revive the marque.

Autumn will run until 1430UTC on Thursday March 14, with Series 31 continuing for another two weeks until the same time on Thursday March 28.

Series 31 Autumn Playlist: Forzathon Events

A recent addition makes its first appearance in the Forzathon Weekly Challenges this week, following the theme of sporty European cars. You’ll need to pick up and drive an example of the Lancia Stratos HF Stradale ’74 to start High Fidelity.

The events all lean into the car’s talents and fame as a WRC legend. First up you’ll need to get yumping, to score three Air Skills in the car, before heading out to any Dirt Race event to take victory.

Your final goal for the week is to earn two stars at any Trailblazers — and you can pair this with a Daily Challenge later in the week if you feel like being efficient — to score five Playlist points and 80 Forzathon Points.

Weekly Challenge: High Fidelity

  • Car: Lancia Stratos HF ’74
    • Chapter 1: Own and drive the Lancia Stratos
    • Chapter 2: Earn three Air Skills in the Lancia Stratos
    • Chapter 3: Win a Dirt Race in the Lancia Stratos
    • Chapter 4: Earn two stars at Trailblazers in the Lancia Stratos
  • Reward: 5 points, 80FP

It’s another Euro-focused set of Daily Challenges this season too. As usual there’s a new one available each day, at 1430UTC, and you have seven full days to complete each for its solitary point.

Buy any Volkswagen vehicle for the first. It’s not clear if the Auction House qualifies, but it’s not like they’re so rare you can’t just pick one from the Autoshow; they are Reasonably Priced after all…

Go Above and Beyond next, by completing the third round of any Horizon Arcade theme in any Land Rover model.

You’ve Gotta Drift M All after that, scoring a Great Drift Skill in any model of BMW M3.

International Caller is up next. Smash up three phone boxes — you’ll find these dotted around any of the settlements — in any Mini model to complete it.

Get that Trail, Blazed after that, scoring two stars at any Trailblazers. You can pair this with the final Stratos challenge above.

You’ll be Show Jumping next, landing a jump that lasts over three seconds. Any Danger Sign is good enough for this one.

Finally, show you’ve Got it Made by photographing any Maserati at the La Casa Solariega player house — near Teotihuacan — to round out the week.

Daily Challenges

  • March 7 – Reasonably Priced: Purchase any Volkswagen
  • March 8 – Above and Beyond: Complete Round 3 of Horizon Arcade in a Land Rover
  • March 9 – Gotta Drift M All: Earn a Great Drift Skill in any BMW M3
  • March 10 – International Caller: Smash three phone boxes in any Mini
  • March 11 – Trail, Blazed: Earn two stars at Trailblazers
  • March 12 – Show Jumping: Land a jump lasting over three seconds
  • March 13 – Got it Made: Photograph any Maserati at La Casa Solariega

Series 31 Autumn Playlist: Season Events

There’s a shrinkage in the solo section of the Playlist this week, with just seven events, due to that increase in the multiplayer events.

We’ve got two EventLab challenges this week, with both reverting to a lonely lap of a custom course with no AI. Each is worth the usual three points, with a bonus vehicle prize.

Jardin Dia is a neat little garden environment near Rio de la Selva, requiring an A Class (701-800PI) Super Hot Hatch from Europe. Avoid the obstacles (and frame-rate drops) to reach the end of the three laps to earn a 1965 Mini. You’ll head over to EventLab Island for Ramen Autodromo, which is not so much a racetrack as it is a Mobius strip inside an Inception. Complete two vertigo-inducing laps in an S1 Class (801-900PI) Modern Supercar from Europe to earn the Volvo V60.

All three PR Stunts this week require an A Class (701-800PI) Peugeot, and in fact can all be completed in a stock 206 Super 2000.

You’ll need to hit 120mph at the Baja California Speed Trap (which is, confusingly, nowhere near the area of the same name), 80mph at the Punto de Vista Speed Zone, and complete the Malpais Trailblazer with at least 16 seconds remaining. In each case you’ll score two points and a Super Wheelspin.

Again there’s a brand-new car available as a reward for the special Seasonal Championship, but both events are still their regular three-race championships against “Highly Skilled” AI. You’ll need to top the points table at the end to claim five points and the bonuses.

Cult Legends is the Exclusive Event this week, requiring a D Class (≤500PI) Cult Car for a Street Racing series. Victory earns you the apparently not-a-Citroen DS23 which you’ll need for the Photo Challenge this week.

Over in Audi Ya Like That, you’ll need any all-wheel drive, A Class (701-800PI) Audi for a Cross Country challenge, with an Audi S1 as a reward.

EventLab: Jardin Dia

  • Car: A Class, Super Hot Hatch, Europe
  • Location: Rio de la Selva
  • Challenge: Win the race
  • Reward: 3 points, Mini Cooper ’65

EventLab: Ramen Autodromo

  • Car: S1 Class, Modern Supercars, Europe
  • Location: EventLab Island
  • Challenge: Win the race
  • Reward: 3 points, Volvo V60

Speed Trap: Baja California

  • Car: A Class, Peugeot
  • Location: Horizon Baja
  • Challenge: 120mph
  • Reward: 2 points, Super Wheelspin

Speed Zone: Punto de Vista

  • Car: A Class, Peugeot
  • Location: Guanajuato
  • Challenge: 80mph
  • Reward: 2 points, Super Wheelspin

Trailblazer: Malpais

  • Car: A Class, Peugeot
  • Location: Baja California
  • Challenge: 16s
  • Reward: 2 points, Super Wheelspin

Seasonal Championship: Audi Ya Like That

  • Car: A Class, Audi, AWD
  • Location: San Juan
  • Challenge: Win the Championship
  • Reward: 5 points, Audi S1

Seasonal Championship: Exclusive Event – Cult Legends

  • Car: D Class, Cult Cars
  • Location: Tierra Prospera
  • Challenge: Win the Championship
  • Reward: 5 points, Citroen DS23

There’s an odd look to the multiplayer list this week, with four events in total. As usual these require an Xbox Core subscription in order to take part on console — although it’s free to race on PC.

Three of the four events are Seasonal Playground Games, each focusing on a different discipline. There’s three points on offer for each, which makes a total of 19 points in this section alone this week.

In each case you’ll be placed on a team of up to six players, tackling different games against another team of up to six. In each case you just need to finish a round to get the points and bonus prizes; winning isn’t necessary.

Alfa and Omega is a Team Flag Rush event for A Class (701-800PI) cars from Italy. Each round consists of a defensive and offensive end, with the teams swapping once the time is up (or the target score has been beaten) so that each gets a turn at either trying to take the flags to the scoring zone or tagging their opponents to defend it. There’s a Super Wheelspin for victory.

It’s Team Survival in Big Cats & Speedy Kiwis, which requires S1 Class (801-900PI) cars from the UK. Again, you’ll take turns being the Infected (green) or Survivors (purple), with the goal being a game of car tag to infect (orange) all the Survivors — who can cure themselves by tagging a still-purple team-mate — or to outlast the Infected until the clock runs out, with a Super Wheelspin the reward.

Meanwhile King for a Day takes in — as you may expect — Team King. Unlike the other events, all the action takes place in a single “end”, which finishes when one team reaches the maximum, ten-minute time.

The teams score a second for each second that one person on your team holds a crown, with each team starting off with two apiece. One twist here is that you’ll face a cut in engine power if you hold one too long, requiring a team-mate to relieve you of your burden before an opponent can catch you. It’s a B Class (601-700PI) event for cars from Germany and awards a Ferrari 458.

Finally there’s The Trial as usual. This week’s event, Magical Trevor, requires an S1 Class (801-900PI) Track Toy car from Europe for the team challenge.

You’ll be paired up with up to five other players to race a team of six “Unbeatable” AI. Each driver on each team gets 100pt for each driver they beat on the other team, but nothing for beating their team-mates — except a tie-breaking 50pt haul for the team with the race winner.

The goal then is to help your team to as high a score as possible, as winning alone won’t do it for you. This is best achieved by hindering the higher-placed AI to allow your lower-placed team-mates past.

Despite being a road racing series this week, the higher PI levels may mean that the speed overwhelms the control a bit — among both players and the increasingly wayward AI — but it’s not too much of a challenge to win, even if it’s a bit trickier than usual to do it in two races. You’ll earn the usual ten points and a car which everyone loves: the TVR Sagaris.

Seasonal Playground Games: Alfa and Omega

  • Car: A Class, Italy
  • Location: Aerodromo en la Selva
  • Challenge: Complete the event
  • Reward: 3 points, Super Wheelspin

Seasonal Playground Games: Big Cats & Speedy Kiwis

  • Car: S1 Class, UK
  • Location: Estadio Horizon
  • Challenge: Complete the event
  • Reward: 3 points, Super Wheelspin

Seasonal Playground Games: King for a Day

  • Car: B Class, Germany
  • Location: Ek’Balam
  • Challenge: Complete the event
  • Reward: 3 points, Ferrari 458

The Trial: Magical Trevor

  • Car: S1 Class, Track Toys, Europe
  • Location: Estadio Horizon
  • Challenge: Win the Championship
  • Reward: 10 points, TVR Sagaris

Series 31 Autumn Playlist: Challenges

We’re back down to two challenges again this week, with one being an online multiplayer event requiring Xbox Core (except on PC).

That’s The Eliminator, with its usual challenge. You’ll need to finish 30th or better — usually a matter of surviving a couple of minutes — in this unique battle royale game mode on the shrinking map in order to earn two points and a “Kinda Sus” Forza LINK greeting.

For Horizon Open, Eure-Car!, you’ll just need to complete any Horizon Open Racing event in any European car. You’ll earn two points and a Cupra Race Suit at the end of it.

The Photo Challenge, #Deesse, once again requires you to score a car from other challenges. You’ll need to complete the Cult Legends Seasonal Championship, described above, to earn the DS23 — erroneously listed as a DS vehicle rather than a Citroen — for the challenge. Then, or during the races if you’re lucky with opponents, simply photograph the car for two points and a Can’t Hear You Emote.

The Eliminator: Battle Royale

  • Cars: Any (provided)
  • Location: The Eliminator
  • Challenge: Finish 30th or better in The Eliminator
  • Reward: 2 points, “Kinda Sus” Forza LINK

Photo Challenge: #Deesse

  • Cars: DS23 ’75
  • Location: Any
  • Challenge: Photograph the DS23 ’68
  • Reward: 2 points, Can’t Hear You Emote

Series 31 Autumn Playlist: Monthly Events

With the entire Series to complete them, the four Monthly Events will remain in place across the four-week window. Whenever you opt to complete them, each one will award a point to each of the four seasons, for a total of 16 points available.

Although they resemble Rivals events — racing against a ghost car over a given course in a car provided — you don’t actually need to beat the ghost. The goal is to set a clean time, which means staying off walls, and away from the Rewind button.

Naturally Forza EV features electric cars, with the DLC pack Pininfarina Battista trying to lay nearly 2000hp down around the compact Lookout Circuit, while this week’s 20pt reward car — the Volkswagen ID.4 — is the star at the claustrophobic Tunnel Run point-to-point.

Monthly Rivals is about combustion power, with the Lotus Esprit V8 racing around the Plaza Circuit and some brave pills and luck required as you thread the Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro down the Reservorio Sprint point-to-point.

Forza EV: Lookout Circuit

  • Cars: Pininfarina Battista (provided)
  • Location: Horizon Rush
  • Challenge: Post a Clean Lap
  • Reward: 4 points (1 added to each season)

Forza EV: Tunnel Run

  • Cars: Volkswagen ID.4 (provided)
  • Location: Guanajuato
  • Challenge: Post a Clean Time
  • Reward: 4 points (1 added to each season)

Monthly Rivals: Plaza Circuit

  • Cars: Lotus Esprit V8 (provided)
  • Location: Guanajuato
  • Challenge: Post a Clean Lap
  • Reward: 4 points (1 added to each season)

Monthly Rivals: Reservorio Sprint

  • Cars: Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro (provided)
  • Location: Horizon Festival
  • Challenge: Post a Clean Time
  • Reward: 4 points (1 added to each season)

Series 31 Autumn Bonus DLC Events

Once more, each of the two DLC expansion packs brings a further seven bonus points, with each location hosting a two-point PR Stunt and a five-point Seasonal Championship. These aren’t required to hit 100% completion, but give you a leg up if you’re struggling elsewhere.

Both PR Stunts are Speed Traps this week, but with different car categories. You’ll need a B Class (601-700PI) Retro Saloon from Europe for the 138mph target in Hot Wheels — best approached from the north and with stiff rear suspension to stop bottoming out — and a D Class (≤500PI) Classic Sports Car from Europe for the 80mph goal at Cascada Fuerte in Rally Adventure. Each awards a Super Wheelspin.

Your two Seasonal Championships are at different ends of the scale too. Grab another B Class (601-700PI) European Retro Saloon for the Rally Adventure event, Peak Retro, which awards a 1997 Land Rover Defender. Meanwhile it’s S1 Class (801-900PI) Super GT cars from Europe for Super Loops in Hot Wheels, with a 2006 Audi RS4 as your reward.

Hot Wheels Speed Trap: Nexus View

  • Car: B Class, Retro Saloons, Europe
  • Location: Hot Wheels Giant’s Canyon
  • Challenge: 138mph
  • Reward: 2 points, Super Wheelspin

Hot Wheels Seasonal Championship: Super Loops

  • Car: S1 Class, Super GT, Europe
  • Location: Hot Wheels Ice Cauldron
  • Challenge: Win the Championship
  • Reward: 5 points, Audi RS4 ’06

Rally Adventure Speed Trap: Cascada Fuerte

  • Car: D Class, Classic Sports Cars, Europe
  • Location: Sierra Nueva Cascada Fuerte
  • Challenge: 80mph
  • Reward: 2 points, Super Wheelspin

Rally Adventure Seasonal Championship: Peak Retro

  • Car: B Class, Retro Saloons, Europe
  • Location: Sierra Nueva Tierras Verdes
  • Challenge: Win the Championship
  • Reward: 5 points, Land Rover Defender ’97

Series 31 Autumn Forzathon Shop

The larger Forzathon Shop continues this week, with an additional item available, and two very special, race-spec machines from different eras take the spotlight.

First of those is the Jaguar E-Type Lightweight. Produced as a limited run — and originally more limited than intended — the Lightweight is pretty self-explanatory.

Designed as a more pure successor to the D-Type, the Lightweight was developed from the Low Drag Coupe (although most were open-top) — with additional weight savings through extensive use of aluminum in the body and engine.

At an original production run of 12, the E-Type Lightweight is common compared to the second car, the Ferrari F50 GT.

This was created by Ferrari for GT1 category racing, but the class became an arms race of barely disguised prototypes with low volume homologation models and the car was scrapped without seeing the track. Ferrari did make three in total, with reworked aero and the V12 turned up to 740hp.

At a cool 7.5m credits in the Autoshow, the 900FP cost of the Jaguar looks like a good deal. So does the F50, at 600FP against a two million list price.

The other store items this week are the France Race Gloves, Spaik Sundress and Wheelspin Win Horn at 75FP each. The Wheelspin and Super Wheelspin are also available at their usual 60FP and 150FP respectively.

Series 31 Autumn Forzathon Shop

  • Jaguar E-Type Lightweight ’64 – 900FP
  • Ferrari F50 GT – 600FP
  • France Race Gloves – 75FP
  • Spaik Sundress – 75FP
  • Wheelspin Win Horn – 75FP
  • Wheelspin – 60FP
  • Super Wheelspin – 150FP

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