Coming hot off the trail of Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown’s mid-season update, KT Racing has revealed what’s to come in the game’s fifth season, set to arrive later this month.
In the latest Solar Club Letter, the team detailed much of what’s in store for the fifth major update to the game, including economy changes, a new addition to the casino, and core gameplay changes. We first learned about the game’s upcoming season back in July when the team communicated its intentions with Solar Crown’s Year 2 roadmap.
There’s also a taste of what’s to come in the future, but let’s take a closer look at what the developers are working on to make “the best season so far”.
Table of Contents
- Improved Visuals & Time Cycle
- UI Overhaul
- Construction Sites
- Economy Changes
- Vehicle Improvements & Live Events
- Mid-Season Update & Season 6
Improved Visuals & Time Cycle
With the introduction of Season 5 comes improvements to the KT Engine, and with that, players will take notice of new lighting, shadows, reflections, and other visual improvements. One of these improvements arrives with water shaders. Players will now be able to find waves appearing on the beaches in Ibiza, as well as improved color toning for the water itself.
In an ongoing effort to improve the game’s overall performance, KT has created a dedicated optimization team to facilitate this. While the season won’t see a major uplift in performance, players should still see an improvement courtesy of the updated rendering techniques. Players can look forward to even further enhancements in the updates to come as this will be a “long-term optimization campaign”.
The team has also improved the time cycle for both Hong Kong Island and Ibiza with new colors aiming to evoke a “cinematic mood” throughout the game and to differentiate the two locales. For Hong Kong, that means mimicking the atmosphere found in various Asian driving community videos, and for Ibiza, it’s emphasizing the heat and vibrant colors one would find on a postcard.
Tracks and races in both locales will also undergo visual changes. As of this update, races on Ibiza will have a “complete identity change”, with a focus on more enclosed spaces and a structured feel, similar to the F1 races in Monaco and Macau.
Hong Kong’s races, while still in development, will focus on a “new proposition” that’s less futuristic but continues to offer as much freedom as they do now. The team wants to keep the “Open Road vibe” on Hong Kong Island (HKI) that defines the experience and hopes it’s ready for release next season.
UI Overhaul
As noted in the Solar Club Letter, the game is undergoing a major overhaul of its User Interface. Season 5 will see the first step toward a global rework that will “improve the visibility and art direction” of the UI.
When the update releases later this month, players will immediately notice a change to the pause menu: the player’s character and car will now be front and center. Buttons and navigation have been repositioned to optimize the space and let the “3D shine over the 2D”. The hovered button color has also changed to feel “more classy and less in a sci-fi mood”.
There are additional changes as well that players will discover when out and about in the game’s open world, such as improvements to the Alyss menu, free-roam race pop-ups, and notifications for events happening throughout the world so players never miss a high-payout opportunity.
Construction Sites
Beginning in Season 5, players will start to notice construction sites going up around the game world, with more arriving as the seasons progress. Two house construction sites will go up in Ibiza, and the picture above shows off the general area for one.
No construction sites will be present on HKI when the update goes live; however, there will be a map change in an undisclosed area of the island near a twisty road. In Season 6, more construction sites will be erected, including that of the Official Racing Center that’s set to arrive in Season 7.
The sites will serve as a way for players to follow the progression and development of housing and other future features. The idea, at least for houses, is for players to visualize the end result and start planning in advance. House construction sites will continue to appear across the game in upcoming seasons, leading up to their official arrival on day one of Season 8.
Economy Changes
The in-game economy has been a source of contention amongst the TDUSC community, and the Paris-based studio is finally addressing the concerns with the new season. Race payouts have been increased across the board — for every single race and event in the game — on both Hong Kong Island and Ibiza.
Time spent will also be a factor, so whether it be a two-minute Navigation Race or a 20-minute Crown Jewel, players will be rewarded accordingly. Speaking of which, the Crown Jewel events now offer greater payouts. The Ruby event will offer 1,000,000 Solar Coins and the Jade event will offer 500,000, both before bonuses come into play.
FRIM (Free Ride Instant Money) will see a complete overhaul. Players will now be able to earn Reputation and Solar Pass XP in addition to Solar Coins. The cash-in cap has been removed, meaning players can cash in as much as they want, whenever they want. Furthermore, the limit of earning 1,000,000 Solar Coins every 24 hours has also been removed.
FRIM now levels up differently, with a new max level of 99. Players can also earn FRIM simply by cruising around the world. While previously limited to performing specific skills, that limitation is gone, meaning players can drift, cruise, and weave through traffic as much as desired without penalty.
Special Skill chains have been removed, as the team felt it was a “complicated feature within FRIM”. Other skills like burnouts and 0-100 have also been cut to make the system more consistent, replaced with new features like “clean driving”. The intention of the overhaul is to reward players for driving how they want, not for repetitively performing meaningless skills.
Finally, Car Selling will also arrive with Season 5. Players will be able to engage with a new NPC in the Solar Hotel, and upon opening the new menu, they will be able to sell their vehicles. Interestingly, prices will vary depending on the mileage, upgrades, and vehicle options applied at the dealership or workshop. Depreciation will also affect resale value, though to what extent isn’t stated. It will depend on the vehicle itself, with the example given that a daily driver will have a lower depreciation value than a hypercar.
Vehicle Improvements & Live Events
With the forthcoming season, KT has set out to improve vehicle features and correct issues pointed out by the community. With the arrival of Taxi Missions, a new cruise control option will be added to the Alyss menu, with two modes of use.
The first, Speed Hold/Cruise, allows the vehicle to maintain an assigned speed, which can be increased or decreased in the Alyss menu. Coming to a stop will automatically disable it. The second mode is Speed Limiter, where the vehicle’s acceleration is controlled by the player up to an assigned speed limit.
Cruise control won’t be limited to Taxi Missions; the feature is available for use at any time, including in Freeroam and during Delivery Missions. KT cautions the feature may not work with electric vehicles on day one but asks players to stay tuned.
As previously mentioned, Season 5 will also host a number of resolved issues regarding vehicle models. The team has added the correct dynamic indicators to the Shelby GT350R, Mercedes-AMG GT R, and Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series.
Live event rewards will also see improvements in Season 5. KT is quick to point out that not a single sticker will be present in the live events rewards this season. The Alpine A110 Légende will receive an exclusive livery, and more clothing is on the way, including new PUMA swag such as a t-shirt and shoes.
Mid-Season Update & Season 6
Unlike previous seasons, there won’t be any new feature content arriving with the mid-season update. Instead, the update will introduce the online store that will allow players to purchase licensed clothing, vehicles, previous live event rewards, and more.
Items in the shop will be purchasable with Diamonds. When the store goes live, players will be able to earn an unspecified number of free Diamonds once per week by claiming them in the shop. Previous Solar Pass vehicles will be added, and from the mid-season update onward, three additional vehicles will be added with every new season.
Exclusive to the shop, these new vehicles will be licensed or unlicensed bodykits of existing models, or completely licensed special versions of vehicles already in-game. Examples given are the Mercedes-AMG SLS Black Series, arriving in the shop in Season 6, and the Nissan GT-R ‘The Tyger’ widebody kit, which arrives with the Season 5 mid-season update.
Available as a pre-order bonus prior to the game’s launch, the Ford GT will be made available for purchase as of the mid-season update, though it isn’t specified how. We’d wager it will also feature in the online shop, but only time will tell.
Season 6, set to kick off in January 2026, will feature physical clothing stores for the Streets and Sharps clans. Once the stores go live on Ibiza, the team will also add physical stores to the respective clan hubs on Hong Kong Island. As a result, chest rewards will be removed, and all items will be purchasable in the stores.
There’s no official release date for Season 5 just yet, but the update is planned for late October. Stay tuned for the latest as it becomes available!
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