FH5 Series 2 Spring/Hot Notes

FH5 Series 2 Spring/Hot Notes

OK, time to start compiling the notes again.

Forzathon: “The Cossie” (5pts, 80/160FP) (est 20m)
So to start the week off our weapon of choice is the 1992 Ford Escort RS Cosworth. Some legendary names, especially in the world of rally, attached to this beast. Stock is C 565.
First task is to win three Dirt Trail events; that would mean point-to-point. Based on the Rivals numbers, the shortest are Desierto Trail and Barranca Trail, both 6.2km, then Tapalpa Trail, Baja California Trail and Cascada Trail are all 6.4km each. (Note that Montaña and Cordillera trails are both used in a later championship this week, so if you’re optimising for unbeaten events, take that into account.)
After this, it’s a standard 100k skill points farm; the perk upgrades that boost skill point earnings are tied to air, speed, pass and combo skills if you feel the need for a bit of a hand. 20,000x5 combo will do the job.
Finally, we need nine stars off of Danger Signs. Rewinds will be helpful to knock this out quickly; wait until the icon turns gold, then hit the button back to before the jump.
Time estimates: 3 x 3min races, 6min skills, 5min danger sign = 20min

If you turned down the difficulty to make the races easier, remember to turn it back up afterwards!

Daily Forzathons (1pt, 10/20FP each)

Day 1: 12 Clean Racing skills from Street Races (est 10m) - doubles with Day 4, and the Trial!
Day 2: Complete a Horizon Tour in any GT car (est 15m playtime, lots of queuing for an appropriate session to appear on tour)
Day 3: Smash 5 bins in 60 seconds (est 3m, got to find them first!)
Day 4: Win a Street Race in a Rods and Customs car (est 5m) - combos with Trial, IF you use the Hoonigan Bel-Air (only valid R&C car for Trial)
Day 5: Earn 3 stars from any Trailblazer (est 10m)
Day 6: Earn 10 Air skills within 30 seconds (est 5m)
Day 7: Earn 12 Clean Racing skills from Dirt races (est 10m); doubles with Forzathon Weekly, one championship if you’re confident enough to leave them to the final day

Horizon Arcade (3pts, 30/60FP) (est 10m)
Finish Round 3. You know the drill.

The Trial: Tis the Season to be Hooning (10pts, Hoonigan Cossie) (est 15m per attempt)
Hoo boy, we’re nine weeks into this game and the trial reward is literally the fourth car you get in the game. Yes, they’re handing out the same car that the first Showcase gives you. Which means you can use the reward car to win… itself. You’ll need an S1 Hoonigan for this, and there are five at stock PIs in the range. There are also three options that can be tuned up from A class, while the other three cars in the game are stock S2 and I haven’t checked to see if they tune down.
It’s Street Races for this one, so mind the traffic; yes, there’s even MORE annoying AI to dodge in this one! Courses in order are Hilltop Descent, Wetland Charge and Jungle Descent. All pretty smooth courses, though the last does finish on a more technical section.

EventLab: Upgrade 2 Exit (3pts, Forza Link phrase “Knock Knock”) (est 5m if you use the spoilers, forever if you don’t)
Car requirement is a Ford Focus RS 2017, A class. Not sure if a rental is available. Stock PI for this model is 702, just barely scraping in.
Here’s the scene: you’re in a walled-off parking lot, just outside of the Stadium. You need to collect three chests; each one will “upgrade” your car (unlock some more power using the EventLab rules). You need these upgrades to make a final jump inside the stadium across the finish line.
The three chests are NOT located within the walled-off car park; they’re all in the Stadium.
Spoilers start here for how to find the chests!
Head in and past the huge ramp you see. Follow the wall around to the left until you find a large wooden structure; the first chest is at the top. You will need to make a TrackMania-style turn through a quarter-pipe over a wall. Be careful not to fall off! Next up, behind the finish is a maze constructed using upright wooden paneling; this chest is in the bottom-right corner from entry. Finally, to the right of the finish is a square tower with a ramp on the right; climb this tower to get the third chest. There’s a “diving board” to help you on the way down. Finally, line up your jump with the target, and fly through the finish to clear this!

Seasonal Playground Games: No Small Wonder (3pts, Dial Up Modem horn) (est 20m)
B class Volkswagen’s are the order of the day here, and the arena is Ek’ Balam. Mind the temples!

Danger Sign: Boardwalk (2pts, Wheelspin) (est 3m)
A class Super Saloon. All the PR Stunt requirements sit above the 2-star mark, but short of three; this jump wants 76m. It’s in the forest, just south of Playa Azul. There is no marked road to it, but you can set a route to see the approach path. The run up is through a couple of water splashes.

Speed Trap: Los Árboles (2pts, Wheelspin) (est 3m)
Ford Mustang Boss 302 ‘69, upgraded to A class. Stock is C 581; upgrades will run you about 87,000CR (assuming you pull the same tune I did), on top of the 230,000CR car cost if necessary. This one’s right at the base of the eastern, paved climb up the volcano. Get yourself a ticket for doing at least 209.2 km/h; you can get a better run from the uphill side of the road.

Speed Zone: Punto de Vista (2pts, Wheelspin) (est 10m)
Pickups and 4x4s is the category, C is the class. You may already have an eligible car; the barn find GMC Jimmy fits the criteria at stock (that doesn’t mean it will necessarily be fast enough to clear this, though!). The area is just north of between Guanajuato and the Speed Trap for this week. The number to beat is 132km/h. You can cut the turn to the inside of the house ridiculously tight, in fact all the turns give a large lenient space. And you will need to use all of it. Just make sure you return to the trail between turns; take too much liberty with this and you’ll see the dreaded FAILED message.

Seasonal Championship: Auld Lang Syne (5pts, AM Vantage ‘19) (est 15m)
Any car you like, as long as it’s from the 2010s, and A class. But some things haven’t changed since FH4… turns out the Bone Shaker is still OP. Especially in the last two races, if an AI has one and you don’t, you’re in trouble. You’re on dirt here, with races across Montaña Trail, San Juan Scramble, and Cordillera Trail. Montaña is apparently Spanish for “down the volcano on dirt”, with lots of back-and-forth movements. Technicality is at its maximum here. Not so for San Juan, with barely any tight corners, while Cordillera is best described as smooth runs punctuated by slow corners.

Seasonal Championship: New Beginnings (5pts, Ferrari 575M) (est 15m)
GT Cars, and A class. Three road sprint races, all providing a mix of long runs to test the top speed and one or two tight corners to divebomb the field. A stock Bentley Continental easily wiped the floor with this lot.

Seasonal Championship: Down for the Countdown (5pts, MB G63 6x6) (est 15m)
This championship is the same category as the Speed Zone, C-class Pickups & 4X4s. Las Dunas Cross Country is the opener, with another run down the volcano, but much more directly this time, all the way out to the coast. There’s a few slow points about midway through. The two following circuits are really just what you’d expect from Cross Country circuits in FH; long runs, large jumps, and needing to slow way down for the corners that actually make them circuits. As with all these low-class events, momentum is key. I did each race in a different vehicle; the best was the stock Ford Raptor ‘17.

Horizon Tour (3pts)
It’s The Trial, but not impossible, and with annoyingly required drives between each race. And you have to do all three, even if you win the first two. Combo with day 2’s challenge.

Treasure Hunt: Too Cool to Air (3pts, 50,000CR)
“I hear 25 bels ringing in the air like it’s 1957”… so a 1957, Bel-Air, and 25 of something to do with air. Go run it over some desert bumps to earn Air skills, though you may want to give it a few more horses so that it can actually take flight instead of gravity keeping it low to the ground. At stock it won’t even get out of second gear. The chest is in the back of the abandoned airfield, on top of a plane wing; if you zoom in on the world map, it’s directly being pointed to by the arrow icon on the Aeródromo en La Selva marker. Follow that arrow straight up, and the first road it intersects is where the plane wing and chest are. The wing is STEEP, and it’s a good idea to bring a 4WD vehicle to get on the wing; cars will likely also crash into the raised flap if taking a straight approach. The lowered flap on the side is more amenable.

Photo Challenge: #UNPEELIEVABLE (2pts, Air Guitar emote)
You won’t be able to do this solo until you’ve earned 45 points for the week, or found one on the Auction House, because this challenge is to take a photo of the second prize for this week, the Peel Trident, in the region of Teotihuacán. Time to grind everything else this week. Or just hope the online play is kind enough to let you catch someone else doing the same thing.

Horizon Open: Driftacular (2pts, 25,000CR)
Horizon Open, complete a drifting event, not much more needs to be said here. You don’t need to do all three events, only complete the final.

The Eliminator (2pts, Forza Link phrase “Happy New Year!”)
Battle Royale go brrrr. Top 30 result earns the biscuits.

Bonus note: Super7 prize this week is a 2019 Ferrari 488 Pista.

Monthly Rivals: Cathedral Circuit (3pts)
DeLorean, one clean lap, easy points.