Playground Games has revealed the content and changes coming to Forza Horizon 5 with next week’s Series 31 update, as 12 more cars make their way to Mexico including the Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro.
The Series bears the name “European Automotive”, so it should come as little shock that the entire fleet of new cars — both free and through another four-car paid DLC pack — hails from European manufacturers.
A more cosmetically muted update than we’ve seen in recent months will see the map revert to its usual decor after being infested by dragons, beset by snow, and peppered with neons. However a new prop pack for EventLab looks to make up for that as dinosaurs begin to roam the Earth again…
Forza Horizon 5 Series 31 New Free Cars
It’s an eight-car selection this month, with four new-to-Horizon and four returning vehicles. The star turn is, without a doubt, that ferocious Aston Martin which slots in as the joint-highest performance point-rated standard car in Forza Horizon history.
That should be no surprise, as the AMR Pro model strips weight from, and adds power and downforce to, the already ludicrously quick Valkyrie. Even without the heavy hybrid system it produces more than 1,100hp from the Cosworth V12, and combines a 250mph top speed with cornering forces of up to 3.5g.
Unlike Forza Motorsport players, who recently received the car as part of the Car Pass, Forza Horizon players won’t need to pay extra for the car which is a 20-point playlist reward in the first season.
The corresponding reward for Autumn is a good deal slower, with the all-electric Volkswagen ID.4. It’s presented here in its most powerful form — the dual-motor, all-wheel drive “GTX” — but at just 295hp pulling this Tiguan-sized, 2.2-ton SUV about it’s not a performance model. At least in standard guise…
Electric power is absent from the Winter reward, with the convertible version of the Mercedes-AMG SL63. This latest model in the brand’s longest-lived car (only beaten by the G Class, which is hardly a car!) comes with a number of firsts including a standard 2+2 configuration and all-wheel drive. That’s useful for harnessing the excesses of the 577hp version of the four-liter, AMG V8.
Finally there’s a classic Mercedes too in the shape of the 500E. Built — by Porsche, as it was too wide to fit down the Mercedes production line — on the base of the exceptional W124 sedan, the 500E could be summed up as a five-liter V8 crammed into a regular executive car, but in reality just about everything on the car was modified to cope. That included the removal of the rear center seat to account for the differential and new headlights to allow additional air inflow.
Four returning cars are also available this month and unusually all four will be available through special seasonal championships. You can pick up one each season, and each is also the subject of the Photo Challenge in the same season.
Three of the four are classic vehicles, represented by the Citroen DS23, Lancia Fulvia, and Volkswagen Typ2 Double Cab Pick-Up. A modern classic joins them, as the Lotus Esprit V8 returns from FH4 too.
Forza Horizon 5 Series 31 New DLC Car Pack
In keeping with recent updates, Series 31 also totes yet another paid DLC pack with four vehicles available. This “European Automotive Car Pack” will be available to buy after the update lands on February 27, $/€4.99 (£3.99) and is separate from any other bundles — even the Premium Edition.
There’s plenty of power on tap this time, but most of it comes from just one car: the Pininfarina Battista. Sufficiently similar to the Rimac Nevera — to the point Rimac even supplies the battery pack — the Battista is a 1,900hp, all-wheel drive electric car packing four individual in-wheel motors and the first production car to be officially branded under the legendary Pininfarina name.
Joining it in the pack is the more old-school Jaguar SV Project 8. Starting out life as a regular XE sedan, the Project 8 has a V8 stuffed into the nose — which required the bulkhead to be shifted back a few inches — as well as the race-ready knowhow for which Jaguar’s Special Vehicle Operations team is renowned. It’s the fastest and quickest leaper since the legendary XJ220.
Another, more comfortable Brit joins the Jaguar, with the Bentley Continental GT Convertible W12. This big cruiser is part of the model line that is still Bentley’s most successful ever — matching the Bentayga SUV for sales — and you get to experience the quad-bank W12 with the roof down.
Last but not least there’s the one-of-one AMG Hammer Wagon. Built as a special order for a customer by AMG North America, it’s pretty much exactly what it sounds like: an AMG Hammer but built into a wagon. Another W124 derivative, this actually started out as a diesel before all of the modifications necessary to convert it to Hammer specifications — including the 5.6-liter V8.
Forza Horizon 5 Series 31 Other Changes
While it’s a more subtle update in terms of world decor, there’s some new props on their way for EventLab enthusiasts — bringing the ability to turn Mexico into your own Jurassic Park. Let’s just ignore the fact that there’s six films about why this is a bad idea.
Among more than 70 new props, you’ll be able to add six new dinosaurs, with Ankylosaurus, Brachiosaurus, Pterodactyl, Stegosaurus, Triceratops, and Velociraptor (which looks like the Deinonychus-based movie version) joining the original Tyrannosaurus in the selection.
There’s also 25 new types of platform and ramp, and 40 geometric shapes and blocks from cones and cubes to toroids and frustums (basically a pyramid with the top shaved off, to save you Googling).
A new collectible will also be available, with a special star trophy similar to the symbol you’ll see in the Series’ name. This is added to EventLab, but you’ll also need to smash it in the first season as a Collectibles challenge.
The update for Forza Horizon 5 Series 31 will arrive on Tuesday February 27, with the Series itself beginning on the Leap Day of Thursday February 29. We’ve also already caught a quick preview of Series 32, The Horizon Race Off, which will come at the end of March.
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