Forza Horizon 5 Festival Playlist Weekly Challenges Guide Series 16 – Autumn

Summer rolls into Autumn, at least in the fabled land of Mexico, and so a new batch of Festival Playlist Weekly Challenges have washed up on our Forza Horizon 5 shores.

The #FORDzathon continues this week, weirdly with no new Ford cars added in the whole season, but still, at least this time around we can aim at an MG, eh? Maybe #MGzathon didn’t have the same ring…

Anyway, without further ado, let’s take a deep dive into the Forza Horizon 5 Festival Playlist Weekly Challenges for Series 16 Autumn. We’ve got all the cars and the tunes you need in order to find success. 

Part 1: #Forzathon Weekly Challenge – The Cossie

Ah, the Escort RS Cosworth, a car that was so beloved of joyriders when it was launched that it was practically uninsurable.

For those of us not of a criminal disposition, what we had here was a 4WD weapon, a rocket ship in the guise of a sensible family hatchback. I remember watching an interview with the designer of the Cossie, where he was talking about wanting to have a triple level wing on the rear, but he was overruled by the accountants. Imagine what that would have looked like for a second…

If you don’t have a Cossie in the garage already, swapping 66,000 credits for one at the Autoshow is your first port of call. They always look good in blue, but I really need to get around to doing the Repsol replica paint job I keep threatening to do…

Chapter 1 – 90’s Icon

Get in your Cossie and go for a spin. Nice and easy!

Chapter 2 – RS Is For Rallye Sport

For this step, we need to go out and win three dirt trail events.You know, the point-to-point ones? Pick your favourite and let ‘er rip. 

Stock trim should be more than good enough to take home the gold.

Chapter 3 – Hoon Again

In tribute to the late, great Ken Block, founder of Hoonigan, we need to go out and win some skill points, 100,000 of them to be exact. Get sideways for Ken!

I tweaked mine a little for this step and the next, and my share code is: 415958589. With a smidge over 1000 BHP, it ain’t shy.

Chapter 4 – Wing Commander

Now we have to put that wing to good use and fly like a bird, earning a total of nine stars from Danger Signs. Pick your fave and let it fly. 

And just like that, the weekly car challenge is over.

Part 2:  Challenges

A pinch of Playground Games, a dash of The Trial, a smidge of Arcade – the recipe for this week is pretty straightforward.

So, let’s have a look at what we need to do for these events, shall we?

The Trial – Ute the Best

Looking at that title, it should come as no surprise to learn that we need to use an Ute, as Australian’s call pickups, for this week’s main event, and it should also come as no surprise to learn that we need to use a Ford one.

There’s not a massive choice of vehicles that fit that particular Venn diagram, to be honest, but the Ford Ute from 2014 is there! The limitation this week is B Class 700, and with the basic Ute being 685, the only room I had was to make mine AWD. 

The share code is: 486441206

If you don’t have a Ford Ute, completing the “Ford by Four” Seasonal Championship event will reward you with one.

Our prize for forging a team from the deepest parts of the interwebs? A mighty Hoonigan F-150.

Horizon Arcade – Mini Games

You should know the routine with these by now as there are a few different events to choose from; it’s always best to grab one that suits your interests. You may like to drift, to go fast, cause chaos, jump or wreck stuff, and well, the Arcade has an event for you. 

All you need to do is complete round 3 in any event, and my personal favourite is the drift events, as a stock Formula Drift Mk IV Supra can do this alone. Otherwise, pick your best car and let loose.

Doing this will get us three points towards this week’s prizes.

Seasonal Playground Games – Team Flag Rush

Flag Rush is a fun little game, seeing us tasked with getting flags from one end of the arena to the other, or being tasked with stopping said flag transport.

This week we need to use any Ford vehicle with a maximum tune level of A Class 800, so seeing as these things are usually off road, I went with a bit of a left field choice – the same Ute as above, but tuned a tad more. The share code is: 101727402.

Win or lose (it doesn’t matter) we will walk away with a Ford De Luxe Coupe. Which is nice.

Danger Sign – Event Horizon

Get a Ford from before 1990, tune it to a maximum of B Class 700 and then fling it off a ramp and try to fly further than 210m. What could be easier, right?

Well, not much to be fair, as long as we use a light and fast car!

I went with a Ford Anglia from many years ago, and the share code is: 149867093. Gentle run up and hitting the ramp at around 140 mph was more than enough.

We will acquire a Super Wheelspin for flying about. Maybe there will be a new spine or suspension setup in there?

Speed Trap – Estadio

Same restriction as before in regards the car, but this time we are tasked with flying past a speed camera at above 140mph. This time I used the same Anglia again, with an approach across country seeing me hit 153 mph. 

You’ll get another Super Wheelspin to add to the collection for succeeding.

Trail Blazer – Puerta Petrea

Slightly different vehicle required this time, although the same restrictions apply.

We need to finish this Trail Blazer and reach the finish line with more than 22 seconds on the clock, and so I went an Escort, the #5 Racing one, and the share code is : 793610371.

Yet another Super Wheelspin can be won. Maybe I’ll get some new socks?

Seasonal Championship – Ford By Fours

With the amazing pun out of the way, I can reveal that this event needs us to use a C Class 600 Ford Pickup or 4×4. Again, with a question like this, the answer has to be an F-150, and I went with the SVT Raptor from 2011, with a share code of : 139383916.

Winning the event, or best two events out of three in a convoy, will get us a Ford Ute, the car we need for The Trial.

Seasonal Championship – Superstar & Hatch

We need a Ford Super Hot Hatch for this event, and the choice isn’t massive.

With the tuning limit of B Class 700 in place, and a restriction of only using a Super Hot Hatch, I  made this beastie: a Focus RS from 2009, with share code: 111915343. AWD and more power? Winner!

For coming out on top, either solo or in a convoy, we will walk away with a Ford Focus RS from 2003.

Seasonal Championship – Caprisy Does It

An odd choice of car for this event means we are restricted to only a Ford Capri, and to only a tune up to D Class 500. It’ll be quicker to walk…

Still, rules are rules and so I tuned mine up to give the following share code : None! 

The basic car is already at 497, so there is literally no room to tune. Stock is the future, ladies and gents. 

Winning this event will get us a bit of an upgrade, a Mustang GT from 2018.

Part 3: Other Challenges

Not much to write about this week, with only a photo challenge to complete. Snap away and grab some rewards. 

Photo Challenge -#FORDZATHON

Take a Ford Fiesta ST from 2014 to Gran Puente, take a photo and the job, as they say, is a good ‘un. I’ll include the results from my happy snapping below, along with the location you need to get to. All part of the service. 

For completing this onerous task, we will be rewarded with a Wheelspin. Not even a Super one.

Part 4: Hot Wheels Events

As always, I am contractually obliged to tell you that in order to access these events, you must have reached Elite level in the Hot Wheels expansion. 

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the erstwhile editor of this very website hasn’t achieved that – he’s been spending far too long trying to hunt down all the bears in Need for Speed Unbound. (True Story – Ed) 

Danger Sign – Canyon Fire

Another Danger Sign, another minimum distance (this time it is 230m) and another Ford from before 1990 to a maximum of B Class 700.

I went with the same car I did the last Danger Sign in, an Anglia, with the same share code: 149867093.

Another Super Wheelspin up for grabs too.

Seasonal Championship – Shaking The Trees

Another set of races, another Ford car, and this time it is a Modern Muscle car with a tune of A Class 800. As always, the answer to the question is a Mustang, and I went with a Shelby GT500 from 2013. Share code for mine is: 402868577.

Winning this event will get us a Ford Bronco, so it is all very groovy.

There are ways to grab more Forza points in Autumn and if you haven’t yet mopped up the little bits found in the Monthly Rivals Events, then you should do that right now. Just click the tile in the Festival Challenge Weekly Playlist and the game will whisk you off to a land of the unknown – otherwise known as a set car around a set track, tasked with beating set times (of your rivals). If you haven’t yet done a circuit of either the Horizon Baja Scramble or Emerald Circuit (Forza EV), then tick those off right now. You’ll find 4pts heading into your series progress tally for each. All you need to do is take it fast and smooth, beating any rival and ensuring the lap is clean. Simples.  

Series 16 as a whole gives you access to a couple of new rewards – the MG6 XPower for 80pts, and the Hoonicorn V2 running behind 160pts. Autumn itself has a couple of cars up for grabs too, namely the #20 MG MG6 (20pts) and Ranger Raptor (40pts). The challenges of Winter will follow on allowing you to take home the Renault Clio ‘16 and Ford GT ‘05, whilst Series 16 concludes in Spring with another Renault Clio (the ‘10) and a No.14 Ford Fiesta. 

Series 17 kicks in once this batch of #FORDzathon joy is complete, taking us off to the Far East for some Japanese fun. Drifting is sure to be near the top of the agenda.  

To complete the Forza Horizon 5 Festival Playlist Weekly Challenges, you’ll need a copy of the brilliant Forza Horizon 5 in your digital library. It’s available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S or PC, all via the Xbox Store, for a cash outlay or through that Game Pass subscription you own – you do have a Game Pass sub, yeah? 

Drop into the comments and let us know if the cars listed have helped you out this week. We want to know ALL about it.