We’re not sure where the time has gone, but Forza Horizon 5 players now have access to Series 16 of the Festival Playlist Weekly Challenges. It’s Summer which kicks things off and that means we’re in for a wet and windy ride across Mexico. Oh, it’s the start of #FORDzathon too – expect a ton of Fords to be thrust your way.
It also means that there are new rewards on offer, further cars to collect, events to complete and races to win. It’s with that in which we give you a full rundown of what is required, providing recommended cars and tunes to help you overcome the tests ahead.
Settle down and enjoy what is on offer in Forza Horizon 5 and the Festival Playlist Weekly Challenges for Series 16 – Summer.
Part 1: #Forzathon Weekly Challenge – Built Wild
The subject of this week’s car challenge is, somewhat shockingly, a Ford. The 2021 Bronco from off of the cover of the game, as a matter of fact. If for some reason you don’t own one yet, a quick trip to the Autoshow will hook you up, in exchange for 55,000 of your finest credits.
Chapter 1 – Cover Car
Get in your Bronco and drive it. Fairly straightforward!
I love the look of the aggressive wheels this thing wears.
Chapter 2 – Built Wild
We now have to win a race, but not just any race. Nope, it is the Baja California Trail race we need to win, and stock trim should see you right for this challenge.
Save those pennies.
Chapter 3 – G.O.A.T.
To prove the Bronco can cope off-road, now we simply need to win a Cross-Country event.
Take your pick and off you go, again stock trim is more than good enough.
I used the circuit race at the Baja outpost to complete this step.
Chapter 4 – Conqueror
Now we need to earn three stars on a Trailblazer event.
I chose Malpais, as it is short and the 15 second three star is pretty easy. Stock trim will not cut it this time, so I tuned it up a bit to give this share code: 332965160.
As a guide, this build does that event with 22 seconds to spare.
And weekly challenge complete!
Part 2: Weekly Challenges
The Eventlab makes a return this week, despite literally no one asking for it, and in addition there are the usual treats of The Trial and the rest of the seasonal shenanigans to carry on with. Let’s see what we need, shall we?
The Trial – Blast From The Past
The weekly invite to forge a team from the depths of the internet is here, and in keeping with the Ford theme running through, we have to use a Ford Retro Muscle car to compete in this event.
The choice isn’t huge, and so I went with a Mustang SVO from 1986 to try and compete. The class limit is C600, so there’s not a lot of tuning room, but a bit more power, a set of brakes and suspension should see us right. The share code is: 784298439.
For managing to come out on top in the best two out of three races, we will win another Mustang, this time an S5. Which is a bit of an upgrade.
Eventlab Jamesmiata Presents Alpine Heights Race Day
For this event, we need to use a Ford car, tuned to a maximum of A Class 800. It is an offroad track, and so I went with another Ford Bronco, this time the #2069 one from the “Welcome Pack”. I left this stock to save a bit of money.
Getting into the event, two things stand out – one is that it isn’t an off road race, as the course has tarmac laid over it, and the second is that if you are used to driving around with a line on telling you where the corners are, this doesn’t work in this event.
Still, at least the layout is stupid, eh?
For going through this ordeal, we will receive a Green Pinata clothing item. Yay.
Speed Trap – Avenida
This may be a bit of a challenge, as we need to put a Ford from pre-1970, up to a maximum of B Class 700, through this speed trap at better than 130 MPH.
I went with a Ford Anglia, and the share code is: 149867093. Now, there is no way to put tyres on this thing to keep it in the restrictions, and so it is a little, let’s say, challenging to drive.
Approaching from the north seems marginally easier, but mind the puddle.
We will get a Super Wheelspin should we manage this feat.
Speed Zone – Riviera Maya
Same restrictions apply to this event, except we must average over 100 mph for the stretch of road. I went with the same car, and with some delicate tip-toeing, it is doable.
The sharp bend in the middle of the course is the make or break part of the track.
Another Super Wheelspin is the prize.
Seasonal Championship – Midnight Muscle
There had to be an event where muscle cars would come out, and it is this one.
Take a Ford Modern Muscle car (already has to be a Mustang), tune it to A Class 800, and then unleash it on the mean streets of Mexico. It is a Mustang, shockingly, the Shelby GT500 from 2013. Share code for mine is: 402868577.
Winning best two out of three in a convoy or the championship solo will get us a Ford Falcon from 2015.
Seasonal Championship – Fording a Path
An off road championship, featuring Ford Classic Rally cars to a maximum of B Class 700? What could be better?
This calls for a Ford Escort I reckon, and I went with the Escort RS 1800 from 1977. With a light tune featuring AWD, this should be everything you need to win. The share code for mine is : 699552840.
Our prize for sliding about like some kind of rally hero is a Ford Capri Mk1.
Seasonal Championship – Scrambling for Time
This is another lip smacking opportunity to have a bit of fun, requiring us to take any Ford, up to A Class 800, as long as it is AWD.
Now, the first step in most of my tunes is to make them AWD, so this offers a world of fun. I chose a #25 Brocky Ultra4 Bronco, and the share code is : 709656590.
The prize for coming out on top of this event is another Escort from 1977, the #5.
Part 3: Other Challenges
Photo time, Horizon Open racing and the smashing of Collectibles. Our favourites all in one…
Photo Challenge -#FORDZATHON
After hunting down snowmen throughout Series 15, we’re back to running some standard photography sessions in Series 16. And as we’re sitting slap bang in the middle of #FORDZATHON season, we’d expect to have to snap some good old Fords.
That’s true here in Summer and we need to jump into a 1965 Ford Transit, head to De Otro Mundo and snap away. There’s nothing too tricky about this, but we’ll leave a shot and map reference to help you out. Just head to the South-West corner of the map near to the Emerald Circuit.
Fire off your best picture to earn a neat little Ice Cream Van horn.
Horizon Open – Forward Thinking
You know the deal with Horizon Open events – jump in a car of your choosing, race and take home the rewards.
This time around you’ll need to be up front and centre with a Ford of some description. You take what you like, but we love a B Class 700 Focus RS 2009.
Reward? Yeah, you get a Green XS Race Suit. At least it gives the chance for you to jump out of that snowman outfit.
Collectibles – Reach New Lights
How we love a Forza Horizon 5 play-on-words and with Reach New Lights things couldn’t be simpler.
Your task here is to jump behind the wheel of a car – any car – and head out to the Dunas Biancas area. It’s there where you’ll find some floating lanterns and the opportunity to smash them.
The best way of getting there is by fast travelling to the Horizon Baja Outpost in the west before heading south and taking in some jumps.
Destroy 50 and you’ll be rewarded with a Keeno – Nocturne reward.
Part 4: Hot Wheels Events
Ah, Hot Wheels – we love the madness that the loops bring to Forza Horizon 5. And with Series 16 – Summer, a couple more events are on offer. Of course, if you’ve spent time around these parts previously you’ll know you need to be at Elite rank in the Hot Wheels park to be able to partake in them…
Seasonal PR Stunt – Speed Zone – Treetops
The Seasonal PR Stunt in Hot Wheels park this time around is that of a Speed Zone, Treetops in fact. Just grab your fastest car, hit the throttle and you’ll find a Super Wheelspin is yours.
However, there’s always a wrinkle, and so it is here. We need to use a Pre-1970 Ford car again, to a maximum of B Class 700, and we need to maintain 125 mph through the zone.
I chose the same Anglia as before, with the same Share code : 149867093. The edges of the track make this much easier than the ones on the earth, far below!
Remember, if you haven’t yet grabbed the High Roller achievement, make sure you are in Hot Wheels park when you spin this and you’ll get working towards the 25 spins needed to ping 20G.
Seasonal Championship – Speed Beast
A Ford Mustang ‘00 sits as the prize for winning this Hot Wheels Seasonal Championship and as the Speed Beast name suggests, you’ll want to go flat out and fast.
A Ford car to a maximum of S1 Class 900 is required, and again, the answer is a Mustang Shelby GT500 from 2020 – share code : 335181307.
Go as fast as you can (or as fast as you dare) in order to win this prize.
Mopping up the leftovers and as Summer signals the start of a new series, there are a couple of new Monthly Rivals Events to enjoy. This time around you’ll need to nail a clean lap or two around the Horizon Baja Scramble and Emerald Circuit (Forza EV). Doing so will see 4pts heading into your series progress tally. Just take it – relatively – easy and all should be good in the world.
The points that you earn by partaking in these challenges will go towards new cars – and as this is Forza, we LOVE new cars. Series 16 as a full four-week breakdown will gift you the MG6 XPower for 80pts, with the Hoonicorn V2 running behind 160pts. You won’t have enough for those yet, but come mid-season and work through to the end, and you’ll easily gather up enough.
Until then, you’ll need to make do with season specific cars. Summer gifts the Megane RS 250 for 20pts and the Ford Dually HW for 40pts. Follow this guide and you’ll easily earn those. From there, expect Autumn to roll into play next week with the #20 MG MG6 and Ranger Raptor, Winter to follow that with a neat looking Renault Clio ‘16 and Ford GT ‘05, concluding with the Spring months and another Renault Clio, this time in ‘10 form, and a No.14 Ford Fiesta.
And what happens once Series 16 and the #FORDzathon is done? We go Japanese from Feb 2nd with even more cars, collectibles, challenges and props. That’s some way off yet though.
Should you be wanting to take part in the Forza Horizon 5 Festival Playlist Weekly Challenges, but don’t know where to start, then you’ll do well to grab a copy of Forza Horizon 5 and plonk it in your digital library. From there, you can start working through our guide, but the game itself is found sitting pretty on and playable on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S or PC, all via the Xbox Store. You can either stump up cash, or make the most of your Game Pass subscription.
And that concludes our little walkthrough of the Festival Playlist Weekly Challenges to be found in Forza Horizon 5 for Series 16 Summer. Like this article? Drop into the comments and give us all the praise. Don’t? Well, get in those same comments and let us know where improvements can be made. And of course, if you’ve got some better cars, we want to know about them.
Those speed trap ones in a B-class were ‘interesting’ ! I’d not spotted your code for the tune (wish I had) so went through 4 different iterations of other tunes (costing me thousands!) before I finally cracked it. Thanks for the guide!
No probs mate, how are you enjoying the game?
Maybe I’m doing something wrong but I posted two clean times on the Monthly Rivals track, both with a ford. B class and C class. Still doesn’t count for the points…
Hi Peter
The Monthly Rivals have a set car that they want you to use, the first one is a Fiesta and the EV is the Mach-E.If you select the event from the Festival playlist, it will launch the race and stuff you in the correct car for the event.