Well, it’s a big week in Forza Horizon 5, with not only Series 19 of the Festival Playlist Weekly Challenges moving onto “Midnights at Horizon” but racers also discovering the launch of the new Rally Adventure expansion. We’ll be reviewing that just as soon as we’ve finished hooning around in the dirt!
Aside from the new area and rally options, Midnights at Horizon should be seen as Series 19, and that adds a raft of new stuff into the game. The nights in Mexico now look like a showing of Tron, with neon everywhere, as well as a couple of additions to the tuning toolbox as well. The best of these is anti-lag for the turbo cars allowing you to sit on the start line holding the E-Brake as your car goes popping, banging and spitting flames like a full on rally monster. I have to admit, I’m such a child that every car I tune going forward will have this feature.
And it’s tunes that are front and centre here, as we take you through the options you’ll need in order to complete the Weekly Challenges found in Forza Horizon 5’s Festival Playlist for Series 19 Summer.
Part 1: Weekly Car Challenge – Holden On
Can you guess which manufacturer is in the spotlight this week? Yes, it is Holden from Australia, where things are usually pretty simple, much like the subject of this week’s car challenge.
It is the HSV Gen-F GTS, a car with a big engine, rear wheel drive and a penchant for shredding tyres. If you don’t have one in your garage, it is available in the Autoshow for a reasonable 75,000 credits, but just to confuse things, they are listed under HSV, not Holden.
Chapter 1 – Aussie Rules
Get in and drive your shiny new Holden. Step one complete!
Chapter 2 – Touring, Sport and Track
Apparently the Holden HSV has three different driving modes (why would it not always be in full on track mode?) and so to push it to the max we have to win a road race.
Pick your favourite race and let rip! I did tune mine a tad to try and tame it a bit with the share code as follows: 131508815.
Chapter 3 – Torque Vectoring
The HSV can also vector torque to help with traction (who knew Aussies were so complicated?) and so we now need to win six stars at speed zones. Again, pick one you like and let it rip.
Chapter 4 – Supercharged
We now need to press the 6.2 litre, supercharged V8 to its limits and maintain a speed of over 170 mph for ten seconds. Hit the highway and bury the throttle – you’ll do this easily enough on the straights.
And with that, the weekly challenge is complete and we are five points closer to the first car reward for Series 19.
Part 2: Weekly Challenges, Championships and PR Stunts
So, it’s a new week, a new series and a new season, so that means there are lots of new things to try out. There’s the usual mix of The Trial and Eventlab nonsense, alongside PR Stunt madness and racing. Let’s go and see what is what, shall we?
Arcade Mini Games
The usual routine here – pick a Horizon Arcade theme that suits you from a choice of five – Air, Chaos, Drift, Speed or Wreckage. You then have to merely complete three rounds of the chosen mini game to walk away with three points towards the weekly reward.
I prefer a Drift event, and a Formula Drift MkIV Supra, with which I complete the whole thing myself if needs be.
The Trial – Stock showdown BMW M5 ‘18
They are making it easy for me this week, with no tuning allowed as we simply have to take a stock M5 from 2018, find a bunch of “helpful” other racers from the internet, and line up against some so called Unbeatable driverbots. Spoiler alert – they aren’t!
Anyways, going out and winning the best two out of three races in the championship will see us walk away with a McLaren 570S, which is a pretty nice car for such a short job!
Eventlab 1 – John Cee Presents Parametric Night
We need a hypercar in the S1 900 range for this event, and so the first choice is a stock Lamborghini Aventador Superveloce, mainly as it is AWD out of the box. No point tuning for an event that we only have to complete, eh?
This is not an awfully good course, being brutally honest, as it is far too easy to get beached and even fall off the track putting you more than half a lap back.
Manage completion and we can walk away with a Maserati GT-S.
Eventlab 2 – GT Deny Presents Miami Vice Riverside Drive
Retro Supercars to a maximum of A Class 800? I went with a stock Porsche 959, on the same principles as last time.
Again, a fairly uninspired choice of track that doesn’t flow awfully well and again leads to some beaching. Maybe it’s me?
We can claim a Super wheelspin for completing this event.
PR Stunt 1 – Danger Sign – Runway
Blaze down the runway, fling your car off a ramp and try to clear a distance greater than 600 m. What could be easier? Well, not much on the surface.
Now, a straight road, a class restriction of S2 998 and high speed means I get to unleash my favourite Koenigsegg, the Agera RS, and my share code is: 109282883.
Hitting the ramp north of 250 mph saw me clear it easily.
Another Super wheelspin will be yours if you fly far enough.
PR Stunt 2 – Speed Trap – Pequeno
Might as well stay in the Agera for this one, as the car restriction is the same (you do follow these steps in order, right?) and attempt to zoom past the camera at over 177 mph.
This is quite a short road, so it’ll be tricky! Approach from round the bend to the north for the best chance.
Should you manage it, another Super Wheelspin will be winging its way towards you.
PR Stunt 3 – Speed Zone – Airfield Speed Zone
Shall we make it a hat trick for the Agera? Simply complete the speed zone with an average speed of above 175 mph to walk away with the prize. Koenigsegg again it is!
There are some nasty curves here, so hitting the start as fast as you dare should help out.
Seasonal Championship 1 – Love at First Night
These puns don’t get any better, do they? Well, for this championship we need a Super Hot Hatch – not an ordinary one, a super one – and it needs to be tuned to a maximum of B Class 700.
For winning the championship solo, or best two out of three if you can find a friend with time to game, we will take away a Mini JCW from 2012. Nice.
Seasonal Championship 2 – Cloudy After Midnight
Now this promises to be more like it – a Rally Monster car, Tuned to the tippy top of S1 Class 900, and an offroad set of races. What could be better?
I chose, as always, the Hoonigan Escort RS1800, and the share code is: 264985022.
For fulfilling the same criteria as before, we will this time win an Audi RS3, which is better than a poke in the eye.
Part 3: Other Challenges
Treasure hunt? Check. Photo challenge? Check. And a little bit of Horizon Open? Also Check.
Photo Challenge – #NeonNights
We need to photograph any Modern Muscle Car, any one at all, next to the neon Tank in Mulege. I’ll include the location of this tiny thing below, and also post my artistic effort.
We will get a Haunted House horn for our trouble.
Treasure Hunt – Shelby Coming Down the Mountain
The clue this week reads “She’s a beauty to behold, you must drift sideways to win gold”.
I’m guessing complete a drift zone in a Shelby Mustang. Sound reasonable? The Cara Este drift zone is on a mountain, and scoring at least one star in any Shelby car seems to be the key here. I used a stock Daytona Coupe to manage this, and as it is the longest drift zone in the world, it should be pretty doable.
The location of the treasure chest is shown in the photo below, and it contains 100FP.
Horizon Open – The Street Goes On
We need to simply complete a Street Racing event on the Horizon Open playlist to complete this step, and I can’t recommend a tune for this as it could be literally any class. Still, join in and do your best, eh?
We will get a sexy pair of Horizon Race Gloves for doing this.
Part 4: Hot Wheels Events
Are you an Elite level player in the Hot Wheels expansion? If so, we have some good news – there are a couple of extra events to try.
Seasonal PR Stunt – Speed Trap – Dragons Autumn
There is really only one car for the job when it comes to speed traps in the Hot Wheels park, and that is the same Koenigsegg as before – the Agera RS, and my share code is: 109282883.
Speeding past the camera at over 250 mph should be no problem. Approaching from the east makes it feel a bit easier.
A Super wheelspin is the prize.
Seasonal Championship – Night in Shining Car
We need to use an SUV for this set of races, and so I went with my go to car, the ugly Bentley Bentayga, and as the limit is A Class 800, my share code is 118484657.
Choose an inside view so you don’t have to look at it is my best advice.
For winning this championship the IH Scout 800A8 will be yours.
Part 5: Rally Adventure Events
Now that the Rally Adventure expansion is live, we have an expanded roster of events to try. However, in order to take part, we need to be the Horizon Badlands champion, which seems like a tall order just 24 hours after the expansion arrived on the scene. For this week, I’ll recommend a car based on what I see, but I can’t test it yet. Let me know how it goes.
Seasonal PR Stunt – Drift Zone – Canyon Sweep
I do like a drift, it has to be said, and with a car limit of S2 Class 998, it should be pretty good fun too! We have to score some drift points and so I’d give the Hoonigan RS200 a shot. My one with the share code of 130713320 usually nails a drift.
Yet another Super Wheelspin will be ours should we do it.
Seasonal Championship – Rally, Set, Go
Take a Pickup/4×4 vehicle, to a B Class 700, and win some races. Simples, right? Of course it is – at least it is if you take the G63 AMG 6×6 from 2014, as the only thing better than a 4×4 is a 6×6. The share code for mine is: 156321981.
For winning, whether solo or in a convoy, we will get an Apex Predator Tee. Makes it worthwhile, no?
And that’s the lot in terms of the new challenges to be found in Forza Horizon 5 and the Festival Playlist Weekly Challenges for Series 19 Summer. At least it is if you don’t include the couple of Monthly Rivals events that are in place. These are simple enough though and you get all series to ensure you’ve ticked them off. To partake just hit up the relevant tile in the Festival Playlist and you’ll be whisked straight to the event at hand – this time being the circuits of Bolo Ocha and Bahia de Plano. You’ll find four points going towards your free cars should you nail the clean – remember, CLEAN – laps you need to do in order to discover completion.
In terms of the free cars and as always there are motors on the table for the full series – 911 GT3 RS4 ’12 (80pts) and Aventador J (160pts) – with a couple more sitting behind each week’s completion. Summer will see you getting behind the wheel of the Rimac Nevera for 20pts and the ID Zerouno ’18 for 40pts, whilst future week’s of Series 19 bring the Cadillac CT5-V, Audi R8 ’13, Lexus LC 500 ’21, ATS GT’ 18 , Cadillac CT4-V and Radical RXC to the party. We’ll have guides to the best cars and tunes you need to complete Autumn, Winter and Spring of Series 19 as the month progresses.
As always, in order to take part in the Festival Playlist Weekly Challenges that are in place, you’ll need a copy of Forza Horizon 5 to hand. It’s available on Game Pass, playable on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC and even on the cloud via mobile. If you need to pick the game up, head over to the Xbox Store.
Let us know if our tips, tricks and tunes help you with completion.
