Forza Horizon 5 Season Change: The Chosen Ones

Andrew Evans · · Comments

A fresh set of challenges awaits for Forza Horizon 5 players, as the latest Series has moved into its third week.

Officially called “Community Choice”, this 29th Series is something of a look back at features that have been fan favories across the game’s last two years.

A mild world makeover is part of the mix, as the neon decorations return from Series 19. That includes a very different look at the Aerodrome, more glitz at the Street Scene Outpost, and neon lights during any of the official races.

There’s eight new cars coming during the month too, although all are returnees from previous FH games that didn’t make the cut for FH5 until now. Collecting all eight gets you a new Evolving World Accolade.

The map also sees the return of every temporary PR Stunt from previous series. If you’ve missed out on a chance to get three stars at each (and corresponding Accolades), here it is!

Table of Contents

Series 29: Community Choice

Neither of the Series reward cars is new to the game, but they’re cars you can’t pick up through normal means. This rare appearance then is a good chance to earn both.

For 80 points you’ll receive the 2020 Nissan GT-R Nismo, which almost literally turns everything about the GT-R up to 11.

If you’ve ever found the Nissan GT-R a bit weighty and ponderous, the Nismo fixes that in dramatic style, with tech and knowledge from the GT3 race car.

That includes the racer’s actual turbochargers, giving the 3.7-liter V6 some 600hp, as well as reworked throttle and gearbox maps, suspension and aerodynamics. It’s very much a knife’s edge machine.

The Porsche 911 GT3, available at 160 points, is pretty similar in execution, taking Porsche’s racing wisdom and placing it into a road car.

An upgraded four-liter boxer six with more power combines with the suspension setup from the RSR race car and new aerodynamics to move the GT3’s game on from its already rapid predecessor.

Series 29 Winter/Dry Season Rewards

Two very different approaches to motoring enthusiasm are on this week’s reward list, with two cars returning from Forza titles of old.

Racking up 20 points will earn you the Pagani Huayra, the young Italian brand’s second model and eventual replacement for the Zonda.

It retains the formula of the original car, with a Mercedes-AMG V12 behind the driver and powering the rear wheels — this time a twin-turbo six-liter instead of the all-motor 7.2.

The Huayra also sports all manner of adaptive aerodynamic trickery, and at its 2011 debut it was the fastest model ever produced by Pagani with a 238mph top speed.

Somewhat more leisurely is the Mercedes-Benz 280SL, available for 40 points — and we’ll quickly note that if you don’t have the DLC or an Xbox Core subscription, this is unattainable. Go and sit in the corner and think about what you’ve done, Playground Games.

However, should you have more than 37 points available to you this week, the 280SL was Mercedes’ response to its own 190SL/300SL models. More rapid than the baby B2 and a good deal less expensive than the gullwing, the W113 essentially birthed the SL class as the mainstream offering it is today.

Winter will run until 1430UTC on Thursday January 25, with Series 29 continuing for a further week until the same time on Thursday February 1.

Series 29 Winter Playlist: Forzathon Events

The third classic racer starring in this month’s Forzathon Weekly Challenge is the Porsche 906. If you don’t already have one, it’s available for 2,000,000cr in the Autoshow or at 700FP in the Forzathon Shop this week, but however you get hold of it just drive the car to get No Substitute underway.

It should be a rapid challenge this week, as the second stage just requires you to take a photo of the 906, while the third only needs you to visit Gran Caldera in the car. Fast-travelling there, driving it a short distance, and taking the photo will complete all three in one!

Finally you’ll need to put the 906 through its paces properly and win the Tunnel Run Street Race in Guanajuato. Cross the finish line first and you’ll earn five Playlist points and 80 Forzathon Points.

Weekly Challenge: No Substitute

  • Car: Porsche 906/6 ’66
    • Chapter 1: Own and drive the Porsche 906
    • Chapter 2: Take a photo of the Porsche 906
    • Chapter 3: Drive the Porsche 906 to Gran Caldera
    • Chapter 4: Win the Tunnel Run Street Race in the Porsche 906
  • Reward: 5 points, 80FP

It’s another varied mix in the Daily Challenges this week, with each new event unlocking at 1430UTC each day. You have seven days to complete each from when they become available, for one point a time.

Do your Civic Duty first and smash five dustbins in any Honda Civic. You’ll earn a “Basurero” Skill each time you do this, and you’ll find more of them in the various towns.

Earn three stars at any Drift Zones next to prove you’re a skilled Pedal Pusher.

Complete a Horizon Tour from Saturday as part of your Group Therapy. Note that this is also a Playlist event, so saving it up until the Daily Challenge becomes available is a good idea…

Catch some Morning Car-Tunes as you spend 50,000cr on upgrades for any vehicle.

Take any Porsche Spyder model to victory at the Aerodromo drag strip to prove that the Spyder Bites.

Get into some High Fashion next as you equip the Gradient Tee in the Character Customizer.

Finally land a jump of at least 152m (499ft) in any Pontiac to show what happens When Pontiacs Fly!

Daily Challenges

  • January 18 – Civic Duty: Smash five Dustbins in any Honda Civic
  • January 19 – Pedal Pusher: Earn three Stars at any Drift Zone
  • January 20 – Group Therapy: Complete a Horizon Tour
  • January 21 – Morning Car-Tunes: Spend 50,000cr on upgrades for any car
  • January 22 – Spyder Bites: Win the Aerodromo Drag Strip in any Porsche Spyder
  • January 23 – High Fashion: Equip the Gradient Tee in the Character Customizer
  • January 24 – When Pontiacs Fly!: Land a jump of at least 152m (499ft) in any Pontiac

Series 29 Winter Playlist: Season Events

It’s one of the shortest single-player lists we’ve seen in a while with just six events available this week. That’s two EventLabs, three PR Stunts, and just one Seasonal Championship.

This week’s EventLabs both use (mostly) existing roads for two different circuit-based challenges. Estadio GP gives off an odd Frankie Beaumont film set vibe, but complete the three-lap solo run in any S1 Class (801-900PI) Hypercar for three points and a Dodge Demon SRT. Horizon Club Circuit features the largest AI grid we’ve seen yet in EventLab at 11, and has you racing around a redeveloped Playa Azul in any B Class (601-700PI) car from any Hatch category for three points and a Super Wheelspin.

Each of the PR Stunts requires the same vehicle type — an A Class (701-800PI) Super GT — and you can use the same one for all three. You’ll score two points and a Super Wheelspin on each.

This week they include the temporary Baja Circuit Speed Trap and River Run Speed Zone which, at 88mph and 90mph respectively, aren’t too tricky. We’d recommend a long cross-country approach from the south for the Zone if you’re struggling. The Colina Danger Sign is a bit of a challenge at 313m, but keep your jump right of center to take advantage of the sloping landing zone.

Finally there’s the Seasonal Championship, a three-race Cross Country event against “Highly Skilled” AI. You’ll need to top the points table at the end of the championship to claim five points and a bonus prize.

The sole survivor is Horse-Power to the People, for A Class (701-800PI) Unlimited Buggies and Unlimited Offroad cars. You’ll earn the Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 for claiming victory.

EventLab: Estadio GP Circuit (Outside)

  • Car: S1 Class, Hypercars
  • Location: Estadio Horizon
  • Challenge: Win the race
  • Reward: 3 points, Dodge Demon SRT

EventLab: Horizon Club Circuit

  • Car: B Class, Hot/Retro/Super Hatch
  • Location: Playa Azul
  • Challenge: Win the race
  • Reward: 3 points, Super Wheelspin

Danger Sign: Colina

  • Car: A Class, Super GT
  • Location: Guanajuato
  • Challenge: 313m
  • Reward: 2 points, Super Wheelspin

Speed Trap: Horizon Baja

  • Car: A Class, Super GT
  • Location: Baja Circuit
  • Challenge: 88mph
  • Reward: 2 points, Super Wheelspin

Speed Zone: River Run

  • Car: A Class, Super GT
  • Location: Estadio Horizon
  • Challenge: 90mph
  • Reward: 2 points, Super Wheelspin

Seasonal Championship: Horse-Power to the People

  • Car: A Class, Unlimited Buggies/Unlimited Offroad
  • Location: Cordillera
  • Challenge: Win the Championship
  • Reward: 5 points, Mitsubishi Galant VR-4

You’re going to be busy in multiplayer this week, with three events that each require an Xbox Core subscription in order to take part on console — although it’s free to take part on PC.

Seasonal Playground Games is the lowest scorer this week, with three points and a Honda S2000 CR for completion. The event, Working for or Against, allows any S2 Class (901-998PI) vehicle for three rounds of Survival/Infected.

This event sees one team as zombies (green) trying to infect the other team of survivors (purple). Tagging a survivor turns them into infected (orange), while they can be cured again by tagging a team-mate who is still a survivor. After everyone is infected or the clock runs out players then swap ends to play as the opposite.

With each team having played as zombies/survivors once each, the team which infects the other the fastest or which has the most survivors at the end of the time is the round winner, and the team which wins two rounds wins overall. However you don’t need to win to collect the rewards.

Horizon Tour returns this week too (and you may wish to save it until Saturday…), worth its new eight-point value but with no bonus prizes. This is a three-race team championship for up to six human players against a squad of six “Highly Skilled” AI racers — and “team” is the key word here.

Each player on each team scores 100pt for each opponent — and only each opponent — that they beat. The goal is to score more than the other team, with a maximum of 3,650pt available to split between you.

That means that the best plan here is to help each other out, by blocking the AI and not tripping over one another. Whichever team comes out on top across the three rounds takes the win.

One twist here is that you’ll need to drive across the terrain from the end of one race to the start of the next, although there is no additional reward for doing so.

Finally there’s the very similar The Trial event, in its usual and apparently permanent location. This time the AI is upped to “Unbeatable”, and it’s a best-of-three.

For Heroes of the Hour you’ll need a C Class (501-600PI) Sports Utility Heroes vehicle, for a three-race Cross Country championship. Generally the AI aren’t particularly adept at this event so unless you have inept team-mates it should be a win inside two races for ten points and a Maserati Levante.

Horizon Tour: Co-Op Championships

  • Car: Any
  • Location: Horizon Tour (any)
  • Challenge: Win the Championship
  • Reward: 8 points

Seasonal Playground Games: Working for or Against?

  • Car: S2 Class
  • Location: Estadio Horizon
  • Challenge: Complete Seasonal Playground Games
  • Reward: 3 points, Honda S2000 CR

The Trial: Heroes of the Hour

  • Car: C Class, Sports Utility Heroes
  • Location: Ek’Balam
  • Challenge: Win the Championship
  • Reward: 10 points, Maserati Levante

Series 29 Winter Playlist: Challenges

It’s another two-Challenge week as a Treasure Hunt joins the Photo Challenge in its usual spot.

For the Photo Challenge, #BeachSavvy, you only need to snap any Renault model at all at Playa Azul. Pretty much anywhere in the town will suffice, with a successful snap earning you two points and a Windows TADA Horn.

The Treasure Hunt, Whipping up a Storm, is not overly difficult either, even though the precise action required is very unclear (even after doing it).

Your clue is “Start the Huracan as you drive circles around Mexico”, and it seems pretty obvious that you’ll need to do something in a Lamborghini Huracan. Surmising that it would require a donut (which doesn’t have a specific skill), we grabbed the STO model and went for it, but it was marked as solved not even halfway through an Awesome Burnout…

Nonetheless, once triggered by the mildest of slides, the Hint appears, centered this week on the baseball stadium in Guanajuato. It’s not tricky to find the chest which sits right out front of the stadium, and smashing it earns you the three point and 250,000cr.

Treasure Hunt: Whipping up a Storm

  • Cars: Lamborghini Huracan (any)
  • Location: Any
  • Challenge: Perform a Burnout in the Lamborghini Huracan; find and smash the Treasure Chest
  • Reward: 3 points, 250,000cr

Photo Challenge: #BeachSavvy

  • Cars: Renault (any)
  • Location: Playa Azul
  • Challenge: Photograph any Renault at Playa Azul
  • Reward: 2 points, Windows TADA Horn

Series 29 Winter Playlist: Monthly Events

If you haven’t already done so in the last two weeks, there’s four Monthly Events to clear this Series.

You can of course complete these at any time throughout the Series, giving one point each to each season for a total of four apiece and 16 combined.

They’re similar to Rivals events, in that you’ll be chasing another player’s ghost, but speed isn’t of the essence. Just complete a clean run of the course required in the car provided to you — avoiding any use of Rewind, hitting your checkpoints, and not hitting solid objects — in order to score the points.

That might be a little tricky on the Forza EV challenges this month, which give you fast and heavy EVs at compact circuits: the Jaguar I-PACE at the Emerald Circuit and the Rimac Nevera at the Arch of Mulege Circuit. The Monthly Rivals events are no less rapid but the circuits are a bit more open: the Playa Azul circuit in the Pagani Huayra and the Horizon Mexico circuit in the Nissan GT-R Nismo.

Forza EV: Arch of Mulege Circuit

  • Cars: Rimac Nevera (provided)
  • Location: Mulege
  • Challenge: Post a Clean Lap
  • Reward: 4 points (1 added to each season)

Forza EV: Emerald Circuit

  • Cars: Jaguar I-PACE (provided)
  • Location: Palacio Azul
  • Challenge: Post a Clean Time
  • Reward: 4 points (1 added to each season)

Monthly Rivals: Horizon Mexico Circuit

  • Cars: Nissan GT-R NISMO (provided)
  • Location: Horizon Festival
  • Challenge: Post a Clean Lap
  • Reward: 4 points (1 added to each season)

Monthly Rivals: Playa Azul Circuit

  • Cars: Pagani Huayra (provided)
  • Location: Playa Azul
  • Challenge: Post a Clean Time
  • Reward: 4 points (1 added to each season)

Series 29 Winter Bonus DLC Events

As usual there’s 14 bonus points available in the DLC expansion packs, with seven in each of the two locations — pretty useful in a multiplayer-heavy week like this one — which aren’t required for Playlist completion. In each case that’s a two-point PR Stunt and a five-point Seasonal Championship.

The PR Stunts both require the same A Class (701-800PI) Super GT car as the main map and you should be able to accomplish both in relative comfort. 190mph is the target for the Forest Edge Speed Trap in Hot Wheels, and it’s wind-assisted so ought to be simple enough. You’ll need an eye on grip and downforce for the Reservoir View Speed Zone in Rally Adventure though, but 76mph isn’t a stretch.

As with the single example on the main map, the Seasonal Championships are three-race events against “Highly Skilled” AI, requiring you to top the points table at the end of each to earn the points and bonuses.

You’ll be having off-road adventures in both locations too. Wheelie Fun in Hot Wheels requires B Class (601-700PI) Modern Rally cars, and offers a 2011 Subaru WRX for the win. In Rally Adventure it’s Classic Dunes for C Class (501-600PI) Classic Rally cars, and a Porsche Panamera for taking victory.

Hot Wheels Speed Trap: Forest Edge

  • Car: A Class, Super GT
  • Location: Hot Wheels Forest Falls
  • Challenge: 190mph
  • Reward: 2 points, Super Wheelspin

Hot Wheels Seasonal Championship: Wheelie Fun

  • Car: B Class, Modern Rally
  • Location: Hot Wheels Giant’s Canyon
  • Challenge: Win the Championship
  • Reward: 5 points, Subaru WRX ’11

Rally Adventure Speed Zone: Reservoir View

  • Car: A Class, Super GT
  • Location: Sierra Nueva Epitaph Radio Tower
  • Challenge: 76mph
  • Reward: 2 points, Super Wheelspin

Rally Adventure Seasonal Championship: Classic Dunes

  • Car: C Class, Classic Rally
  • Location: Sierra Nueva Bike Track
  • Challenge: Win the Championship
  • Reward: 5 points, Porsche Panamera

Series 29 Winter Forzathon Shop

Again, the line-leading vehicle in the Forzathon Shop is the car you’ll need for the Weekly Challenge this week: the Porsche 906.

Developed from the 904, the 906 majored on lightness. With a new tubular space frame replacing the box-section chassis and a fiberglass body honed in a wind-tunnel, the 906 weighed close to 110kg less than the already pretty insubstantial 904.

It proved successful on the European hillclimb circuit and the famous Targa Florio, but perhaps its most unheralded achievement was a two-liter class 1-2-3-4 in the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, finishing behind only Ford’s overall podium lockout in the new GT40.

Also available this week is the Shelby GT350R version of Ford’s 2016 Mustang, a lightly hopped-up example of the pony car that sits below the fire-breathing GT500.

Given the Porsche’s 2,000,000cr price in the Autoshow, the 700FP for which it’s available looks like a decent price. We’d swerve the 200FP for the Ford though, given that it’s only 75,000cr instead.

This week’s other items include Senkoe’s Tank Top and the Ring Ring Emote at 75FP each. The Wheelspin and Super Wheelspin are also available at their usual 60FP and 150FP respectively.

Series 29 Autumn Forzathon Shop

  • Porsche 906 ’66 – 700FP
  • Ford Mustang Shelby GT350R ’16 – 200FP
  • Senkoe’s Tank Top – 75FP
  • Ring Ring Emote – 75FP
  • Wheelspin – 60FP
  • Super Wheelspin – 150FP

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Forza Horizon 5 Season Change: Wave Goodbye

Andrew Evans · · Comments
The final week of new challenges and events in Forza Horizon 5’s “Horizon Retrowave” Series is now available, with new rewards for taking part over this last seven days.