Cool game. Picked it up a week ago and having a blast with the racing. Runs great, looks fantastic. I'm new to this series, although I bought FH4 for my son/X Box. He played it a little, and that paid off with a free McLaren Senna for returning players, how nice. The driving has a wonderful feel to it. It's an arcade racer I'd guess you'd say, but it feels nice and the road racing is a lot of fun. All of the different disciplines are, including the dirt and offroad racing. I've put a lot of time in to it already, as I just love blasting through the countryside. I'm a massive mid-engine Ferrari fan, a car and racing guy really, but for me the mid-engine V8 Ferraris are the pinnacle. This is isn't hypercar territory -- and there are plenty of those in FH5 -- but just beautiful cars with a glorious exhaust note and just what I want in a game like this.

Forza sort of throws cars at you. After years of games like Elite and GTAO I am sort of conditioned to work for my goals, securing my assets. Forza says screw that sh!t and here's a hundred free cars. have a good time! Five hours in I had arguably the best car in the game, the Lambo Sesto Elemento FE, which I won in a wheelspin, of which you get a million. It's a sick hypercar and just free. It feels strangely foreign and part of me wants to see everything more precious, and if I have a 458 Italia it should feel special, well-earned. But that's just not a thing in this game. Aside from free wheelspins popping supercars and daily drivers, more are given as rewards for the various activities and events. And still you could opt to just buy from the auto show or at auction. Money's not tight exactly, depending on how freely you spend it I guess, but those wheelspins are full of cash too.I've gotten so many free cars so quickly I've been buying the player houses mostly. There are seven of these and each grant bonuses and garage locations around the map.

Still, some money is needed to fill a stable full of Ferraris. I have about 16 so far, some I found in barns, some from wheelspins, one from a seasonal event. But some holes need to be filled, after all there are a lot of Ferraris! There's a very active player auction mechanic where you can pick up some really good deals, well below sticker and often upgraded and with some cool liveries. The LaFerrari is a reward for owning them all, but that would cost more than I'll ever make. But I'll keep trying haha.

So if you love mid-engined Ferraris and have a bunch of them, how do you choose the one? Drive 'em a lot, yeah. Racing events in the game are broken down by class, with most Ferraris classed as S1 stock. You can mod any car and take it right on up the class ladder, but I find the faster the cars, the harder to race, so the S1 class is the top of my comfort level. Class A is the best, and so I've modded a 360 Challenge Stradale to 800 to keep it in class and it's a great road racer against other top A's. But I've had good results with a lot of A class cars, including the Merc-AMG GT 4-Door Coupe. Cars like this are fast and heavy and do well when there's a little banging in the corners. By the way, what the hell is a 4-door coupe? Whatever it is, it has great acceleration and speed for the class.

The S1 class Ferraris are far harder to sort through. I've bought several at auction, including two 458s and two 488's. The V-12s are mean cars, but just not my style really. The Ferrari I've been driving most is the 458 Speciale, modded to 900 to keep it in class. I have 140 cars, but I want to have "the one" ya know? So far this is it. But there are just so. many. cars.

2013 Ferrari 458 Speciale (728bhp)








Forza gives me the road driving experience I was looking for in GTAO, but which just isn't good enough. The physics too rudimentary, the racing fun but somehow unsatisfying. Not so in Forza. I've had a blast, drag racing other players at the Festival sites, playing follow the leader through the twisting roads. The hundreds of events, which can be done solo against fun AI. The community bashes the AI, but I think it's great. It has the magic variability I so often say is needed. with the AI capable of both really good and really bad driving. Not sure how this whole drivatars system works, whether it attempts to somehow mimic the player-driver it is based on, but I've had some thrilling racing. I especially like the street racing, road courses with traffic. I'm playing with the AI set to 'highly skilled' which gives a good account, I win some I lose some. I started playing with all driving aids off, but after a few days I set ABS on. It's painful without it and I'll take the XP hit. But traction control has to be off right? To get that sweet high speed drift that makes the road racing so much fun. Well maybe not but I'm keeping it off.

Hit me up if you want to join up. In game as smokeless6. Let me know here or via PM as I won't add strangers too often

Tough crowd, playing hard to get, are you? Be seduced....

My best drag racer, '68 Dart




Boss 302




430 Scuderia




458 Speciale, there are laptimes to beat you know




The dashes are fantastic, all accurate, and all gauges and displays work. Ferrari 430. I play in first person. Note rev lights in top of steering wheel





488 Pista. Love Ferraris!




There are all sorts of disciplines, here's some dirt track racing in a modified Bronco




As I said in the OP, the game throws cars at you. This is your starter car! No banging about in a Ford Fiesta for a few days. Straight to the 2020 C8



'57 Bel Air





My S2 class assassin, the Ferarri FXX K. Dropped $1.4 million at auction for her. Sublime




I was headed for the Festival site, so decided to tool along in the '56 Ford. Not much pep, but plenty of style!






And when I get there, the drifters notice the sweet ride and pay homage as only they can

Good briefing DBond.

Tempting to buy .

What controls do you use?
I have a USB MOMO Racing Force Feedback that`s been hiding on a shelf for some years know. Just waiting to be used.
A little suspecious though. Says Windows 98/2000/XP on the label so I don`t know.

I have three red Momo's, but I'm just using an X Box controller. the driving's really nice. It would be even better with my wheel, but the controller is just better from an ergonomic point of view. If I struggled to control the cars I'd hook up the wheel. But it drives nicely this way and I'm fine with that.

I have fun with a lot of the content in the game, but I really like the Rivals sprint racing. point to point dashes where you try to beat other players' laptimes in any class. The courses take anywhere from a minute and half to four minutes, with a few monster 30+ mile tracks on offer too. One race I'll be in a '73 Carrera and the next in a Lambo Huracan, the sheer number of cars to choose from is insane. There's full control over chassis setup, and performance modifications to tune your ride. The paint shop is awesome, but I mostly download nice looking liveries.

This software allows the MOMO to work in Windows 10. I am able to use the MOMO with Dirt Rally 2.0. Not sure if Horizon 5 will support it. You can always get XBOX Game Pass instead of buying the full game. 1$ for the first 3 months. Logitech LINK

XBOX Game Pass for PC

I still prefer the MOMO to newer wheels, I like using the built in shifter as a handbrake.

The throttle and brake feel like they are one axis, at least with the controller. Like brake is anti-throttle, and they are not two separate things. So pure GPL-era trail braking is not really a thing, but the feel of piloting the cars around the roads and circuits is good. A wheel and pedals is a step up, but I think more so for the wheel, because of the way the throttle and braking seems to work. Driving cars like this at these sorts of speeds is done with the feet, but FH5 is leaning more toward arcade than simulation, and the result is really nice, but the mechanics are not like the top sims.

However a wheel setup may be detected and handled differently, with the individual pedals recognized as separate inputs. I dunno.

The sound too is fantastic. These cars really scream. Or putter. Or gurgle or sing like a sewing machine. But man, the exhaust notes of some of these V-8s and V-10s is intoxicating. On those sprint races there are some sections where you just open it up, and the engines as they climb through the gears sound wonderful. I'm a long time sim racer, going back to Papy's Indy Car. GPL, GTR, Assetto, the current Codies F1 sims to name some.

Forza isn't high-fidelity like those sims, but it offers something that none of them do, and that's a free-roam playground covered in fun events you can opt in to at anytime. Solo-MP switching is seamless. You can swap in to a different car anywhere in about four seconds. Other players are all over, but they ghost when they get close, so no one can ruin your good time. There's also a solo mode that is just NPCs, but I prefer the online mode. I can show up at the air strip for some pick-up drag racing, or hook up with a couple players to rocket through the countryside playing follow the leader. No one chatting at me, there are just some tame, polite or funny messages they can choose. The blend of solo and multiplayer is in a great spot.

Looks are super, but unless these games have 1960's Grand Prix racers with period race tracks I'll never buy them.
Graphics wise, if some company made a new version of GPL I'd be all over it. (maybe some day) I can hope!

Assetto Corsa has mods that pretty much turn it into a modern GPL.

Yeah, AC is what you want, if GPL isn't what you want

We had a GPL thread a while back, and Frank posted this video of the '66 cars in AC. Scratches that GPL itch and then some.

https://SimHQ.com/forum/ubbthreads....d-prix-legends-were-you-fast#Post4541605

A lap around the classic Spa

The gameplay is fun and varied. There are 'outposts' you unlock as you play which open up the various events around the map. Drifting, road racing, drag, circuit racing, jumps, time trials and lots more. I'm not much for the drifting, but I do plenty of it, intentionally and otherwise, and I don't do much PvP racing, as the proper spirit is lacking in many, isn't it? Haha, but that leaves a lot to do. I really like the two sprint racing disciplines, road racing and street racing, which are essentially the same thing, but street racing has traffic and is run at night. These are point to point races in a field of 12 cars. There are six classes, from D through X (D,C,B,A,S1,S2,X). A big part of the appeal isn't running the obvious heavy hitters, but finding a good ride for the lower classes, and then tuning it to be competitive.

D class for example. I was running mid to late 60's Mustangs. I have a thing for them, having owned Mustangs for a long time, and those 60's 'Stangs are really cool cars. But in D class you can't do much to upgrade them. If you do too much, like put slicks on it, or drop a V-10 in it, then they go up class and are no longer D class. So maybe a cold air kit and wider rear tires and she's ready to race! There aren't gobs of torque and grip in these cars, so the driving in finely balanced and you have to be precise to turn competitive laptimes, without the horsepower and grip to cover mistakes. A few days ago I was looking to see if I could make a better D class car, as these Stangs just didn't have the acceleration I wanted. One of the lowest rated cars I had was a '53 Vette, but it was so low rated that it left a lot more room to upgrade it and stay in class. And that's what I did and it easily beat my previous PBs.

Then the next race it's maybe it S1 class and a Ferrari or Lambo. Dirt track, dirt point to points. In freeroam, once you've unlocked the outposts, the map will be covered in various activities that are fun to do. One is the speed trap, and you earn either one, two or three stars depending on whether you hit the three speed targets. The speed zone, with two traps, and it tracks your average speed between the two points to hit the targets. Insane jumps off mountains and ramps. Drift zones are everywhere, and just cruising along you come across them and just shift your mindset, boom, sideways and smoking.

Over the top of this are the ever-present seasonal events, various challenges and rewards that change each week. Like racing championships with a specific restriction, such as class C from the 1970s, or one from the Hot Rods and Customs class. So while it's really fun to be collecting the worlds greatest hypercars, all those less heralded rides you're stuffing in your garage become potential tools to complete the activites and events. Beat this 800-foot jump target in a 1950s sedan, ya know? Or another seasonal activity might be to own a specific car, and drive it, fast. This week it's the Lexus LFA. Own it, drive it, go 200 MPH and win two road circuit races and you gain points toward the seasonal reward, a 488 GTB this week. This sort of stuff keeps it fresh, and I like how my entire fleet is potentially useful.

As an old-school hotlapper I've spent a lot of time in the Rivals mode. Here you attempt to beat the laptime of the next player on the ladder by running against his ghost. There are road, street, dirt and off road categories and all classes, so it's nearly endless combinations and fun to keep putting together better hammers to nail the times. This pays handsomely in XP, and the levels fly right by, even if you fail to beat the rival. But if you are so inclined you can game the game a bit since if you've never set a laptime on that particular track, your first rival is the slowest laptime recorded by a player. And of course there's always a player who took 2 hours to complete the 2 minute track haha. So you could for example start out in a slower car in the class, then keep beating your times with better and better cars, while cashing in on all that XP. Anyway, hotlapping in FH5 is challenging, fun and rewarding.

That's enough about the gameplay, here are a few more shots of the cool whips in FH5


One event today is a trail point to point. From that mountain over there to this mountain right here in pertquick time. Modified Ford Bronco






1931 Bentley 8-Litre. Style, riding in.






The most valuable car in FH5, the 250 GTO. She's a B-class star for me. Like the '53 Vette, the GTO was so far off top of the class that it had the overhead to modify it to be my best B-class car. At one point the 250 GTO was the world's most expensive car, maybe it still holds that record. Beautiful car, and surprisingly good racer.





One of those D-class Stangs, I think a '65, during a street sprint at twilight





Years ago I was watching Top Gear, and they did a bit on the Ariel Atom, a supercool little engine with a seat strapped to it. I really wanted to have one of those! I'll grab the video of Clarkson's Top Gear bit and post it. It was the first I actually bought in FH5, tuned to the top of S2 class and it just rips! Good stuff.

Here's the Top Gear piece on the Atom

Lol, a bird strike without a helmet would do some damage.


Wheels

DBond, love the shot of the #25 Brocky! I have a good tune for that! Favorite car... hmmm. Has to be a Ferrari, I think it is the 458 Italia (?) or possibly the Pista. Both are INSANE to drive from Cockpit view.

Favorite in cockpit engine is probably the Twin Mill... 2X the goodness!

I also have 1 or 2 SimHQ logos if you want to use them.

Gamertag: FN OPERATOR

Post a picture of a Dust Storm, or the Hurricane during a race. Love those environmentals!

Hey Bill, how's things? Glad to know someone is playing this game! I couldn't believe there weren't a half-dozen guys here playing it too. it's a great time.

You can't go wrong with a Ferrari. Same here. I posted earlier about how the LaFerrari was a reward for owning all Ferarris and how I'd never have that much money, but I've already done it! Turns out you don't have to have every Ferrari, just nearly all, probably because some have been added since release and the target would have moved. So at around 25 Ferraris I got it. It's hard to pick a favorite car, there are so many, and more are continually being added to the garage. These are my go-to rides by class. I mostly freeroam and do sprint racing.

X Class -- I've only converted three cars so far to X, the Sesto FE, Jesko and 599XX Evo. I guess the 599 is my favorite, but the Lambo is probably the best car in Forza.

S2 Class -- It has to be the Mosler MT900S. Just a fantastic road racer. There are plenty of tunes with around 1300 HP, but I went with a 850hp setup and this car is just blistering on the twisty bits. Lightweight and super agile. love this car. I also use the FXX K and Laferrari, but the Mosler is just so balanced and composed

S1 class -- Ferrari 458 S is my main runner, but there are so many good S1 cars. 488 GTB, McLaren F1, Lexus LFA, Centenario and on and on. 458 S is listed as my favorite car. That's the one I've driven the most

A class -- I've tested so many As on the track, but nothing has beat the 360 Stradale.My most successful car, with the most wins

B class -- 250 GTO is my best road racer, with honorable mention to the Hoonigan '55 Bel Air, a surprisingly awesome car

C class -- A struggle in this class, I've given run-outs to so many, but right now it's between the '92 Escort RS Cosworth and the '94 Celica GT. I feel like I can get better in this class.

D class -- '53 Vette. Converted to AWD, and down on top end, but the acceleration is great for the class and eats up the other cars I've tried on any track with squiggly bits.


I only have one shot of a dust storm at the mo, this one of the Valhalla just after I got her. It has since been repainted







I'll try to add you as a friend if you don't mind. I'd love to have some friends laptimes to compare. I'll keep an eye out for you and maybe we can hook up?

The Jesko can break all the speed records. It is the fastest car in the game at roughly 308Mph top end
The Sesto Forza Edition car will easily destroy any Speed Zones with its insane turning abilities. Did you see that it is 4-Wheel steering!?!

Drag Car: This car will EAT most anything. As of yet, I am undefeated in casual drag. Even Jeskos. HA! The Ford Mustang S5 RTR with GazTheMan97 tune on it. Prepare to look at everyone using your rear view mirror.

One of THE BEST tuners in the game is Dont Giva Deuce his tunes will win you races

I'm using the '68 Dart shown above as my drag car. Just about every time I'm on I drop by the main festival and do some pick up drag racing, but switch cars each time just to give them all a run out. That Dart is the only car out of the three hundred I've acquired that I've drag tires on actually. It's very good, but there are some times when I get smoked.

I think I just got the RTR yesterday. There are like 20 Mustangs in this game. Nice.

I can see your laptimes now and compared some. You've given me a new S2 target for Goliath Nice lap.

I can set your lap as my ghost and run against it

Oh and happy birthday!

The Ferrari FXX K ... at 999 X it is a monster

Are you sure that doesn't belong to Batman?...