Forza Horizon 5: Complete Guide

A complete guide to Forza Horizon 5 (FH5) in 2026: progression, the weekly Festival Playlist, credits and wheelspins, tuning and PI classes, and how to get the most out of Mexico now that Forza Horizon 6 is out.

Researched September 2026 — current as of the "Hidden Horizons" Festival Playlist series (week of September 24, 2026). Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Status note: Forza Horizon 6 (set in Japan) launched on May 19, 2026 for PC and Xbox, with Premium Edition early access from May 15. FH5 is still live. Playground Games keeps posting a new Festival Playlist every week, with new reward cars and challenges.

Quick Start

1. Finish the intro and the Horizon Festival opening. Then go into Settings and set up your difficulty and assists. Higher Drivatar difficulty and fewer assists pay a bigger credit bonus after each race.
2. The Festival Playlist resets every Thursday. Each week is a "season." Complete its activities for Playlist points (PTS) that unlock exclusive cars. The weekly reward car costs 20 PTS, which a casual week easily covers.
3. Unlock Festival Outposts and Expeditions. Each Expedition opens a new Horizon outpost and its event line (Horizon Apex, Street Scene, Wilds, Rush, and Baja).
4. Spin every wheelspin. Wheelspins and Super Wheelspins hand out cars, credits, clothes, and horns. Car Mastery trees on some cars include Super Wheelspins, so those cars are worth buying.
5. Buy an Autoshow car for each discipline: a road racer, a dirt/rally car, a cross-country truck, a drifter, and a drag car.
6. Use tunes from the community. In Upgrades & Tuning, you can search tunes and download them with a share code. The official Forza Horizon social accounts post a "Reward Car Build" share code each week.
7. Rewind is free (unless you turn it off) and has no penalty in single-player. Use it while you learn tracks.
8. Houses give perks. Each purchasable house comes with a perk, and some include wheelspins, Super Wheelspins, or fast-travel options. Check a house's perk before you buy it.
9. Complete Accolades. They work as achievement-style trackers that pay out credits and wheelspins.
10. Explore for Barn Finds, XP boards, and Speed Traps. They pay out quickly and fill in the map.

Core Systems

Performance Index (PI) Classes

Most events restrict cars by class. The number is the car's Performance Index.

Playlist events often add a car-type restriction as well (for example "Super Saloons – A 800" or "Track Toys – S1 900"). Upgrade or downgrade a car to the top of the class limit before you enter.

Progression

• Festival level / Horizon Adventure: unlock outposts and Horizon Stories as you play. Nearly every activity advances something.
• Horizon Stories: mini-campaigns built around characters (for example, the stunt-driver and car-restoration stories). Each gives a reward.
• Car Mastery: every car has a skill tree. You earn skill points by drifting, near-misses, and jumps while driving (the "Skill Chain"). Points go into a per-car tree with perks, credits, wheelspins, and sometimes cars.

Currencies

Weekly Festival Playlist (how it's structured)

Each Series runs about four weeks, with one season per week, and each week has its own events. From the live notes as of September 2026:

• Seasonal reward car at 20 PTS. The week of September 24 to October 1 has the 1991 Toyota Chaser GT Twin Turbo. Before it came the 2010 Rossion Q1 (September 17) and the 1995 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution III (September 10).
• Series rewards at 80 and 160 PTS for the Hidden Horizons series: the 2010 Nissan Tsuru and the 1985 Nissan Safari Turbo.
• 40 PTS weekly reward: a second prize each week (a Backstage Pass in the weeks of September 17 and 24; the 2005 Hot Wheels Ford Mustang in the week of September 10).
• Typical activity types:
  • Forzathon Weekly: a multi-step challenge that pays Forzathon Points.
  • EventLab events in the weekly class.
  • The Trial: a co-op race against tough Drivatars. It's worth 10 PTS but you have to win as a team.
  • Seasonal Championship.
  • Photo Challenge: take a photo of a specific landmark or object.
  • Treasure Hunt: solve a clue.
  • Horizon Arcade.
  • Seasonal PR Stunts: Speed Traps, Speed Zones, Danger Signs, Drift Zones, and Trailblazers.
  • Series-specific "Collectibles" such as the Hidden Horizons Detective Tanks.

The Playlist tab in the pause menu shows the exact events, class restrictions, and PTS for the current week. Season-exclusive cars come back only rarely. If you want one, get it the week it's offered.

Difficulty and Credit Bonus

Raising Drivatar difficulty (from New Racer up to Unbeatable) and turning assists off increases the credit payout. Good starting settings for most players on a controller:

• Braking: ABS on
• Steering: Standard (turn Simulation on later for more control)
• Traction and Stability Control: TCS on at first, then turn it off
• Shifting: Automatic, then Manual later. Manual with clutch is fastest if you're comfortable with it.
• Driving line: Braking only, then off

Car Buying and Garage Plan

Build a small starter garage that covers every discipline, then add to it:

Autoshow vs Auction House. The Auction House is where you find rare and legacy cars (and cheaper "buyout" copies of Playlist cars when other players sell them). Only bid on cars you actually want. Watch the buyout price.

Tuning Basics

1. Upgrade first, tune second. Race tires, weight reduction, and a sports or race suspension (to unlock tuning sliders) are the core upgrades.
2. Tire pressure: aim for a warm pressure that gives even grip. Most players start around the mid-20s to low-30s PSI and adjust from there.
3. Gearing: stretch the final drive for top-speed events and shorten it for tight tracks.
4. Anti-roll bars and springs: softer means more grip on bumpy dirt. Stiffer means a quicker response on smooth roads.
5. Differential (RWD): raise acceleration lock for more stability on corner exit, and lower it for easier rotation in drifts.

If this feels like too much, download a highly rated tune through the share code search. Top tuners post ones for Playlist-legal classes every week.

Expansions and Content

• Hot Wheels expansion (2022): orange-track floating island, Hot Wheels cars, and stunt-heavy events.
• Rally Adventure (2023): the Sierra Nueva region with gravel stages and rally cars.
• Car packs and VIP membership. VIP adds exclusive cars and perks; the exact contents depend on the edition/bundle, so check the Store page before buying.
• FH5 came to PlayStation 5 in 2025. Online play is cross-platform with Xbox and PC.

Online Modes

• Horizon Open: ranked-style online races and events.
• The Eliminator: battle-royale racing. You get knocked out if you lose a head-to-head, and the car you drive gets upgraded as you go.
• Hide and Seek: a casual mode (the Camo Race Suit was a Hidden Horizons Photo Challenge reward in the week of September 10, 2026).
• Horizon Tour: co-op races against AI.
• Convoys: group up and drive together.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Skipping Car Mastery trees that give Super Wheelspins or car rewards.
• Selling rare cars too cheaply on the Auction House.
• Not checking the Playlist until the week has already ended. Exclusive cars leave quickly.
• Staying on low difficulty forever, which gives you much lower credit payouts.
• Upgrading cars past the event's class limit.
• Sticking with a car that doesn't suit the terrain, like a road car in a cross-country event.

Advanced Tips

• Credit farming in EventLab: the community makes AFK/"skill farm" EventLab blueprints. Check what's currently allowed and working, because Playground patches abusive ones.
• Share codes: the weekly "Reward Car Build" posts give you a strong setup for the current reward car. The September 18, 2026 post had a power build for the Rossion Q1 (share code 645 925 949).
• Photo Challenges and Treasure Hunts are the easiest Playlist PTS. Do them first.
• The Trial: use a tuned car at the class cap. Team placement counts, so drive clean instead of crashing into the AI.
• Manual with clutch gives quicker shifts once you learn it. It's worth practicing if you race competitively.

FAQ

Is Forza Horizon 5 still updated in 2026? Yes. The Festival Playlist still rotates weekly, with new reward cars as of September 2026, even though Forza Horizon 6 launched in May 2026.

How do I get the Playlist reward cars? Earn the listed PTS in the current week's Festival Playlist before the weekly reset on Thursday.

How do I get Super Wheelspins? Level up, finish some Car Mastery trees, own specific houses, and complete Playlist events that reward them.

What is the best car in FH5? It depends on the class and the event. For the current top tunes, filter the in-game tune search by class and "most downloaded."

Does FH5 have crossplay? Yes. PC (Steam and Microsoft Store), Xbox, and PlayStation 5 play together online.

Where are the Barn Finds? The game tells you the rough area on the map, which shows up as you progress through the story. Go there and search for a barn inside the circle.

Sources

• Forza Horizon 5 on Steam
• FH5 Steam news — weekly Festival Playlist posts (September 2026)
• Forza Horizon 6 — Wikipedia (release dates)
• Official Forza site