It’s the final week of the month-long celebration of all things snowy in the current Forza Horizon 5 Series, which sees a selection of new, themed Playlist events becoming available.
Series 28 is officially called “Winter Wonderland”, and it’s seen an improbable change in the seasons as winter is here for the equivalent of a full year — turning Mexico into Narnia.
Accompanying the four-week winter, there’s a number of other changes across the world map this month. The most obvious is the Horizon Stadium, which has become “the Winter Wonderland Stadium”, with its own unique track.
This will become a sort-of permanent change, as each Winter season from now on will — excluding any Series-specific, fixed changes — see the stadium become the wonderland once again. That consists of mounds of snow, large (and smashable) fir trees, an ice rink, toboggan runs, and small Scandinavian huts.
For this Series only, the Stadium also hosts the Winter Wonderland itself, a location that allows you to buy gifts from the Forzathon Shop and send them to other players. That accompanied Secret Santa, which has seen players receive two exceptional British supercars: the GMA T.50 and the Aston Martin Valkyrie.
There’s also four new cars — some entirely new, some just new to this title — available across the Playlist this month, with an Evolving World Accolade for collecting them. A new paid-DLC car pack also adds vehicles from the Fast and Furious movie series.
Table of Contents
- Series 28: Winter Wonderland
- Series 28 Winter/Dry Season Rewards
- Series 28 Winter Playlist: Forzathon Events
- Series 28 Winter Playlist: Season Events
- Series 28 Winter Playlist: Challenges
- Series 28 Winter Playlist: Monthly Events
- Series 28 Winter Bonus DLC Events
- Series 28 Winter Forzathon Shop
Series 28: Winter Wonderland
Neither of the Series rewards are new to the game, but with both being Playlist rewards and unavailable through the Autoshow it’s well worth aiming to pick up both.
At 80 points (which you could have passed in week one alone) you’ll collect the Porsche Mission R Concept which previously appeared as a seasonal reward in Series 20.
This particular concept was designed to anticipate what an all-electric, one-make Porsche race car could look like, essentially replacing the 911 GT3 Cup car.
Sporting two motors, the Mission R has a 40:60 torque split — rear-biased, of course — for its 1073hp, as well as some wild aero in order to make it as quick as the 992 GT3 Cup around most tracks.
For 160 points there’s the 2011 Koenigsegg Agera which was a Series 13 reward car too.
This is essentially the “base” model of the Koenigsegg range, but when you consider it has almost 1000hp on pump gas and goes to 250mph the term ought to be considered a relative one.
It also formed the basis of the brand’s more insane machinery, including the multiple record-breaking Agera RS.
Series 28 Winter/Dry Season Rewards
The final new car of the Series comes as a 20-point reward car, with the Lotus 340R joining the Forza Horizon 5 roster after appearances in previous titles.
Like the wild 2-Eleven we saw earlier in the Series — and the 3-Eleven already present — the 340R is a product of applying the Lotus philosophy to the brand’s starter sports car in an extreme way.
In fact the 340R was the first such vehicle, produced as a limited run of 340 vehicles, and stripping back everything unnecessary from the hardly overweight Elise.
Sharing the track-spec underpinnings of the first generation Exige, the 340R produced almost 190hp from a Rover K Series engine and tipped the scales at barely 1,500lb. It’s certainly not short on performance.
Neither is this week’s second car, which joins the 340R as being a barely road legal track car. That’s the Lamborghini Huracan STO which only arrived back in April, and available this week for 40pt.
This is based on the Super Trofeo race car — hence the name (with the “O” standing for “Omologato”: homologation) and the numerous aero devices, including a cold-air snorkel for the engine.
That also happens to be the most powerful version of the Huracan’s 5.2-liter V10, driving only the rear wheels, and extensive use of carbon fiber — including a single-piece front end that Lamborghini calls the “cofango” — to reduce weight.
The fourth and final Winter will run until 1430UTC on Thursday January 4, bringing Series 28 to an end along with it. They’ll be replaced by, hopefully, Summer of Series 29, “Community Choice”.
Series 28 Winter Playlist: Forzathon Events
After a couple of weeks of open-top cars there’s at least a vague nod to the conditions with this week’s Forzathon Weekly Challenge, the BMW M4 GTS. Get hold of the track-focused M4 to get The Ultimate Driving Machine underway.
You’ll be stretching the car’s performance in the events this week. Firstly earn two Hard Charger Skills, each of which you’ll collect for around 10-12 seconds of full throttle acceleration from a standing start.
From there head to Guanajuato and earn three stars at the Ladera Speed Zone above the city. It’s a case of grip rather than speed as you’ll need to wind between buildings to hit the 95mph target.
Finally go to any Road Racing Series (marked by blue icons and lines) event that’s a point-to-point Sprint race and win in the car to earn five Playlist points and 80 Forzathon Points — with the FP doubled if you own the Casa Solariega player house.
Weekly Challenge: Ultimate Driving Machine
- Car: BMW M4 GTS ’16
- Chapter 1: Own and drive the BMW M4 GTS
- Chapter 2: Earn two Hard Charger Skills in the BMW M4 GTS
- Chapter 3: Earn three stars at the Ladera Speed Zone in the BMW M4 GTS
- Chapter 4: Win a Road Sprint Race in the BMW M4 GTS
- Reward: 5 points, 80FP
The final seven Daily Challenges of the Series run into the New Year, with one arriving each day at 1430UTC and one point for completing them — running into next Series for the latter ones (although we’ve never been brave enough to try it…).
You’ll be quite literally Drifting in a Winter Wonderland first, as you head into the redecorated Stadium to earn three Drift or E-Drift Skills.
Next up take a photo at any Player House to prove There’s Snow Place Like Home.
After that you’ll need to earn a Crash Landing Skill — an Air Skill (for getting all wheels off the ground and landing safely) followed by a Wreckage Skill (for smashing a destructible object) in any Porsche Cayman, to have onlookers asking Are You O’Cayman?
You’ll need to Have a Wonder’Vuhl’ Time next, earning six stars across any Speed Zones in Mexico’s own track toy, the Vuhl 05RR.
Mark a Happy New Year by completing any Showcase event. Note that winning isn’t mentioned, even if the Showcase try their hardest to let you win…
New Year, New Me requires that you get a Clean Start Skill, for starting any race and getting through the first checkpoints without hitting anything solid.
Finally Set Pulsars Racing when you win a Dirt Scramble — that’s a circuit race — in the Nissan Pulsar GTi-R.
Daily Challenges
- December 28 – Drifting in a Winter Wonderland: Get three Ultimate Drift/E-Drift Skills at the Winter Wonderland Stadium
- December 29 – There’s Snow Place Like Home: Take a photo at any player House
- December 30 – Are You O’Cayman?: Get a Crash Landing Skill in any Porsche Cayman
- December 31 – Have a Wonder’Vuhl’ Time: Earn six stars in Speed Zones in the Vuhl 05RR ’17
- January 1 – Happy New Year: Complete any Showcase event
- January 2 – New Year, New Me: Get a Clean Start Skill
- January 3 – Set Pulsars Racing: Win a Dirt Scramble Race in the Nissan Pulsar GTi-R ’90
Series 28 Winter Playlist: Season Events
The prolonged cold snap has shrunk the solo playlist again, now down to seven events, with two EventLabs and two Seasonal Championships alongside the three PR Stunts.
There’s two very different feels to EventLab this week. Rabbit Raceway is a custom Hot Wheels course laid out abover Los Jardines, for S1 Class (801-900PI) Track Toys and offering a Get to the Chopper Emote. Touge Battle Vol.3 uses narrowed version of existing roads around La Selva for a head-to-head race against a single AI in B Class (601-700PI) cars in a custom Muscle vs Tuner hopper, with a Super Wheelspin for the win.
Each of the PR Stunts requires a different car again this week, but again they’re of average difficulty. The Basejump Danger Sign is probably the most difficult, requiring a B Class (601-700PI) Chevrolet Nova SS ’69, but if you can hit 140mph off the ramp you should reach the 425m goal.
You’ll need an S1 Class (801-900PI) Ford Focus RS ’17 for the 95,000pt target at Rancheria Drift Zone, while the 150mph goal for an A Class (701-800PI) Nissan Fairlady Z ’94 at the Bypass Speed Trap — between Dunas Blancas and the west slope of the volcano, is just a matter of keeping speed up in the bends. It’s best tackled from the south.
The Seasonal Championships are both three-race events against Highly Skilled AI. Each is worth five points and a bonus prize, for which you need to top the points table at the end of the championship.
Petal to the Metal is an event for A Class (701-800PI) Lotus cars, offering a Vuhl 05RR as a bonus prize. Meanwhile The Ultimate Snowdown! sees you piloting either a Bugatti Divo or Koenigsegg Jesko in the S2 Class (901-998PI), with a 2002 BMW M3-GTR as a sweetener.
EventLab: Rabbit Raceway
- Car: S1 Class, Track Toys
- Location: Los Jardines
- Challenge: Win the race
- Reward: 3 points, Get to the Chopper Emote
EventLab: Touge Battle Vol.3
- Car: B Class, Muscle vs Tuner
- Location: La Selva
- Challenge: Win the race
- Reward: 3 points, Super Wheelspin
Danger Sign: Basejump
- Car: B Class, Chevrolet Nova ’69
- Location: Horizon Rush
- Challenge: 425m
- Reward: 2 points, Super Wheelspin
Drift Zone: Rancheria
- Car: S1 Class, Ford Focus RS ’17
- Location: Mulege
- Challenge: 95,000pt
- Reward: 2 points, Super Wheelspin
Speed Trap: Bypass
- Car: A Class, Nissan Fairlady Z ’94
- Location: Dunas Blancas
- Challenge: 150mph
- Reward: 2 points, Super Wheelspin
Seasonal Championship: Petal to the Metal
- Car: A Class, Lotus
- Location: Horizon Festival
- Challenge: Win the Championship
- Reward: 5 points, Vuhl 05RR
Seasonal Championship: The Ultimate Snowdown!
- Car: S2 Class, Bugatti Divo/Koenigsegg Jesko
- Location: Guanajuato
- Challenge: Win the Championship
- Reward: 5 points, BMW M3-GTR ’02
There’s two multiplayer events this week, each requiring an Xbox Core subscription to take part on console — although it’s free to take part on PC.
Horizon Tour returns this week, with a massive eight points available for your playlist reward (and no bonus prize).
This is a three-race team championship for a squad of up to six players against a team of six “Highly Skilled” AI racers. There’s a little twist in that you need to drive across the terrain from the end of one race to the start of the next, but there’s no rewards for doing so.
Your goal is to score more points as a team than the AI do. Each player on each team scores 100pt for each opponent they beat, but there’s nothing for beating a team-mate. That means the best tactic is not only scoring well yourself, but helping team-mates and denying the opponents as you attempt to get the 1,850pt target each round.
As Horizon Tour events draw vehicles from a rotating set of requirements you just need to pick the car that suits that particular slot and go racing.
Of course The Trial remains in its permanent spot too. This is a very similar event with four distinct differences: you need a specific car or car type, the AI is wound up to “Unbeatable”, there’s no driving between races, and it’s a best-of-three-race series.
For this week you’ll be in a Street Racing event, so watch out for NPC traffic on your way. Any B Class (601-700PI) Toyota 86 or Subaru BRZ model is eligible for the event and there’s plenty to choose from!
Take the team victory, which you should breeze in two races, and you’ll earn ten points and a Zenvo TSR-S.
Horizon Tour: Co-Op Championships
- Car: Any
- Location: Horizon Tour (any)
- Challenge: Win the Championship
- Reward: 8 points, Merry Christmas Horn
The Trial: Seeing Double
- Car: B Class, Subaru BRZ/Toyota 86
- Location: Rio de la Selva
- Challenge: Win the Championship
- Reward: 10 points, Zenvo TSR-S
Series 28 Winter Playlist: Challenges
There’s three Challenges again this week, as the permanent Photo Challenge is joined by another new Treasure Hunt and The Eliminator.
That last item remains its usual challenge, of simply finishing 30th or better in any round of The Eliminator — often a case of surviving a couple of minutes — to earn three points and a “Oh? You’re Approaching Me?” Forza LINK greeting.
For this week’s Photo Challenge, #HappyHoldenDays, you’ll need an Australian car and a bridge. Pick any Holden or HSV vehicle and take a photograph of it at the Gran Puente viaduct to earn two points and a “Happy Holidays” Forza LINK greeting.
The Treasure Hunt, Isetta New High Score!, requires a little finesse but overall isn’t that complex. Your clue this week is “A small car to behold, launch it high and you’ll see gold”, and given the picture clue and event name it’s straightforward to work out.
You’ll need a BMW Isetta Export and a Danger Sign. Any Danger Sign will do, but Boardwalk in Riviera Maya is the easiest by far. Simply get one star — a mere 30.5m leap at Boardwalk — in the Isetta to earn the Treasure Clue: a red zone on your map showing roughly where the Treasure Chest is located.
That’s over at the Baja Circuit this week and you’ll need to wrangle it a little as it’s perched on a truck in the central patch of buildings. Head up the transporter truck ramps slowly, and take a hard left at the top to get onto the lorry. Smashing the chest earns you three points and 100FP.
The Eliminator: Battle Royale
- Cars: Any (provided)
- Location: The Eliminator
- Challenge: Finish 30th or better in The Eliminator
- Reward: 3 points, “Oh? You’re Approaching Me?” Forza LINK
Photo Challenge: #HappyHoldenDays
- Cars: Holden or HSV (any)
- Location: Gran Puente
- Challenge: Photograph any Holden/HSV at Gran Puente
- Reward: 2 points, “Happy Holidays” Forza LINK
Treasure Hunt: Isetta New High Score!
- Cars: BMW Isetta
- Location: Danger Sign (any)
- Challenge: Get one star at any Danger Sign in the BMW Isetta; find and smash the Treasure Chest
- Reward: 3 points, 100FP
Series 28 Winter Playlist: Monthly Events
It’s your last chance to complete the two Monthly Events if you haven’t already done so, with each event worth four points — distributed evenly, one point per Season — whenever you complete them during the Series.
While similar to Rivals events, you’re not required to beat any lap times to complete these events. You only need to complete a clean run of the course in the cars provided to earn the points. That means you’ll need to avoid collisions with solid objects, make sure you hit your checkpoints, and don’t use the Rewind feature.
Of course this is a little easier said than done. The Winter Wonderland Circuit may use the Subaru BRZ — a pliant car for the task — but it’s very compact and full of places to trip you up. That’s not the case for the Marigold Sprint, but it’s a point-to-point course which means a restart every time you muck it up, and the Fast X Dodge Charger isn’t a very friendly car to drive. In principle it’s there to tempt you into buying it, but you might not want to after this event!
Monthly Rivals: Marigold Sprint
- Cars: Dodge Charger Fast X (provided)
- Location: Costa Rocosa
- Challenge: Post a Clean Lap
- Reward: 4 points (1 added to each season)
Monthly Rivals: Winter Wonderland Circuit
- Cars: Subaru BRZ ’22 (provided)
- Location: Estadio Horizon
- Challenge: Post a Clean Time
- Reward: 4 points (1 added to each season)
Series 28 Winter Bonus DLC Events
As usual, each of the two DLC expansion packs offers seven bonus points — a two-point PR Stunt and a five-point Seasonal Championship — for players who own them. The points aren’t required for completion, but, particularly on multiplayer-heavy weeks like this one, give a boost if you can’t (or don’t like to) play with others.
Both of the PR Stunts require specific vehicles, just as on the main map. The Canyon Snap Danger Sign in Hot Wheels needs a B Class (601-700PI) Peugeot 205 Rallye — the second time this car’s been used this Series — for a 135m jump which shouldn’t be too awkward but aim a little left of center for best results.
The Supersonic Spiral in Hot Wheels though is a bit of a beast. Your options for the 155mph goal are tight and controlled or overpowered wallriding in an S1 Class (801-900PI) Honda NSX-R ’92.
Again as with the main map, the Seasonal Championships are three-race events against Highly Skilled AI. This week’s choices are Get a Groove On in HW, for A Class (701-800PI) cars from the 1970s and awarding a BMW M2, and New Year’s R-Evolutions in RA, for B Class (601-700PI) Mitsubishi Evo models and a Jeep Wrangler reward.
Hot Wheels Speed Zone: Supersonic Spiral
- Car: S1 Class, Honda NSX-R ’92
- Location: Hot Wheels Nexus
- Challenge: 155mph
- Reward: 2 points, Super Wheelspin
Hot Wheels Seasonal Championship: Get a Groove On
- Car: A Class, 1970s
- Location: Hot Wheels Forest Falls
- Challenge: Win the Championship
- Reward: 5 points, BMW M2
Rally Adventure Danger Sign: Canyon Snap
- Car: B Class, Peugeot 205 Rallye
- Location: Sierra Nueva Senda de Montanana
- Challenge: 135m
- Reward: 2 points, Super Wheelspin
Rally Adventure Seasonal Championship: New Year’s R-Evolutions
- Car: B Class, Mitsubishi Evo (any)
- Location: Sierra Nueva Joya Marron
- Challenge: Win the Championship
- Reward: 5 points, Jeep Wrangler
Series 28 Winter Forzathon Shop
It’s another shake-up in the Forzathon Shop this week, with a second special event period running across New Year. That’ll mean the standard store is swapped out for a short spell before reverting to the original.
For that three-day window — from December 31 to January 2 (1430 UTC each day) — there’ll be four vehicles previously seen on the Playlist only, offered for between 50-200FP, giving you a chance to pick up some rare cars you might not have previously been able to get hold of.
Outside of this period there’s a Toyota Sprinter Trueno for 800FP and a 700FP Bugatti Divo — one of the options for a Seasonal Championship this week — as well as a pair of new snow-themed clothing items and a Happy New Year! Forza LINK at 75FP each.
The Wheelspin and Super Wheelspin in place throughout, but are discounted to 40FP and 100FP (from 60FP/150FP) during the special event period too.
Series 28 Winter Forzathon Shop: December 28-31
- Toyota Sprinter Trueno ’85 – 800FP
- Bugatti Divo – 700FP
- Snow Jumper – 75FP
- Snow Knee-High Socks – 75FP
- Happy New Year! Forza LINK – 75FP
- Wheelspin – 60FP
- Super Wheelspin – 150FP
Series 28 Winter Forzathon Shop: December 31-January 2
- Mercedes AMG Black GT ’21 – 200FP
- Toyota MR2 GT ’89 – 150FP
- Subaru BRAT GL ’80 – 100FP
- Bentley Turbo R ’91 – 50FP
- Wheelspin – 60FP
- Super Wheelspin – 150FP
Series 28 Winter Forzathon Shop: January 2-4
- Toyota Sprinter Trueno ’85 – 800FP
- Bugatti Divo – 700FP
- Snow Jumper – 75FP
- Snow Knee-High Socks – 75FP
- Happy New Year! Forza LINK – 75FP
- Wheelspin – 60FP
- Super Wheelspin – 150FP
See more articles on Forza Horizon 5 Season Change.
