Update v1.141.192.2 incl DLC:

September is a massive month for Forza. In addition to the early access launch of Forza Horizon 4 beginning on September 28, we’ll also see the Series 2 playoffs for the Forza Racing Championship in Mexico City on the final weekend in September. But before we get to that, we’re launching another huge update for Forza Motorsport 7 on Tuesday, September 11. Hot on the heels of our massive August update, which featured our new track limits and a huge update for the drifting community, the September Update brings with it brand new features into the game, including Experimental Drag and our new Meetups feature. In addition, we’ve got a brand-new Spotlight car that will be sent out to all Forza 7 players, as well as a ton of fixes and improvements to game (check out the September Release Notes for all the detail).

Before we dive deep into the new features, let’s take a quick look at the September Spotlight car, a mid-80s Japanese racing beauty whose on-track performance is just as aggressive as its classic shape:

1984 Nissan #11 Skyline Turbo Super Silhouette
The 1980s were known for many things: big hair, New Wave music, and of course Group 5 race cars. Group 5 rules were, if anything, simple. Teams had to use the stock hood and roofline; other than that the rules were relatively open. The Skyline Super Silhouette, the top tier member of the Nissan “Turbo Corps” that also included the Bluebird and Silvia in similar period dress, had a massive wide-body, a turbo-charged twin-cam motor, and tons of aero enhancements. This factory-built specialty was driven by Masahiro Hasemi whose name is synonymous with this era and had driven everything from Formula One cars to motocross bikes. Can this car hold its own among cars of its bosozoku-inspiring era? Without a doubt. Can you handle a car that takes more control and finesse than a similarly dated open wheel racer? That is yet to be seen.

Now let’s take a closer look at the new features coming to Forza Motorsport 7 in September.

Experimental Drag
Back in May, we showed off an early version of a new form of drag racing in Forza Motorsport 7. Drag racing has been around for years in Forza games and, over the years, we’ve heard loud and clear from the Forza drag racing community about what they liked and what they didn’t like about their favorite mode in Forza 7. With this month’s update, we’re introducing the first step in our evolution of drag racing in Forza. Known as “Experimental Drag”, this new mode can be accessed in the Free Play menu and gives players a fun, authentic and, best of all, streamlined drag racing experience.

Just a race or two is all you’ll need to easily spot the differences between Forza 7’s traditional drag racing and “Experimental Drag.” We’ve given players more control at the start of a race than ever. Now you can easily manage your engine RPM with free-rev throttle control at the starting line, keeping you deep in the RPM band when the green light drops. We’ve also got a new Christmas Tree light system that counts down the start (and, yes, you can jump the start and even be DQ’d!) We’ve also illuminated the finish line so players can clearly see the end of the quarter mile.

As fun as the quarter-mile races are, it’s arguably what happens in between Experimental Drag events that is the real benefit to players. First and foremost: No loading! Once a race ends, players can hit a button and immediately be back at the start line, ready for another 3-2-1 Go! In addition, player rewards will be saved between each race and collected at the end of a players’ sessions, which means fewer menus to wait through. We’ve also loaded up the mode with statistics for players to enjoy, including goodies like Total Time, Reaction Time, 60-foot Time, Trap Speed; the kinds of stats that drag racers love. It’s all part of our goal of making drag racing faster, more efficient, and more fun. In other words, just like on the track, we’re making every second count.

As the name implies, “Experimental Drag” is a first step in re-imagining the Forza drag racing experience. As it stands today, it’s a single-player-only experience on one quarter-mile track. The obvious questions abound: When will you add more tracks? When can we play this in multiplayer? We’d love to hear more of your feedback on Experimental Drag so head over to our dedicated Experimental Drag Feedback thread on the Forza Forums, and let us hear what you have to say. What do you like? What would you like to see changed? How would you like to see drag racing evolve in Forza Motorsport in the future? The conversation is open and the team is eager for your feedback!

Meetups
How many times have you wanted to load up a track in Forza Motorsport 7, grab your friends, and just hang out, with no time limits to worry about? Now you can with Meetups. This new feature lets players load into either a pre-existing Track Day hopper, or create their own private hopper, and invite friends in for some on-track fun.

In a Meetup lobby, players are free to drop in and drop out as they please; they can change cars in the lobby as many times as they like then load back into the track. Players can also tune their cars on the track (or in the pre-race lobby), while others are drifting, racing, or just hanging out. In short, players are free to do what they like, when they like, on any track in the game.

In public meetup lobbies, any player can initiate a vote to change the track by pausing the game and bringing up the list of tracks. Once a track has received 50 percent of the votes, the new track will be loaded in. In private Meetups, the host controls everything. When the host changes tracks, the event will end after a brief timer countdown, then all players will be pulled back to the lobby until the next track loads.

One other benefit of Meetups: the Test Track Airfield Tag track is now available to play in multiplayer modes other than Tag for the first time in Forza 7. This track is a fantastic location for drivers to hoon around, and for drifters to let loose. In fact, this track locale is different from other Forza tracks in that it has no race line – which means that drift points are judged solely on angle and speed (and not whether they are adhering to a race line).

Data Out Update
With the September update we’ve released a new update for our Data Out feature, which was first launched in June. As a reminder, Data Out outputs a UDP stream that development-minded Forza players can take advantage of to create companion apps, data logging, dashboards, and more. The June Data Out functionality was designed to support motion sleds; this update nearly 30 new pieces of data, including speed, power, torque – essentially anything the player can see in the Forza 7 HUD.

With this update, the previous data structure in the initial Data Out release is now known as “Sled” in the game menus. The new version (known as V2) features all the same Sled data outputs, as well as the new data outputs. For a look at the new data structure, check out our Data Out post on the Forza Forums.

September Events
Along with the Nissan Skyline Turbo Super Silhouette, coming to all Forza 7 players for free, we’ve got a great month of fun coming to players. Here’s a look at some of the September highlights:

Rivals
Hot-lappers will have plenty of fun in Forza Motorsport 7 in the month of September. First up, our current Turn 10 Bounty Hunter event is still going strong. Do your best to beat the times of Turn 10 drivers (GT: SpiderGoggles, spartyyon, Euro Nation, and Mechberg) and you’ll win awesome cars and credits in the game.

With the Nissan Skyline Super Silhouette as our September Spotlight car, we’ve got some great Skyline-themed Rivals events up and running; one on Suzuka East and another at Maple Valley. The Skyline Super Silhouette will star in its own event on Daytona Sports Car circuit beginning this week as well.

Leagues
This week we kicked off our new “Wheels of Fire” League season. Over the next four weekly League series, we’ll be featuring events that feature a huge variety of cars. As you might expect, we’ll have series dedicated to the Nissan Skyline family (a perfect place for that Skyline Silhouette), as well as events featuring the Koenigsegg Regera, Formula E cars, early prototype racers, Forza Group Rally and a Drift Spec event starring the HUSV Limited Edition GEN-F GTS Maloo, among others.

#Forzathon
Great #Forzathon events abound in September. We’ve got lots of events with big credit rewards, as well as goodies like the Motorcycle Cop, Spa Day, and Disco Diver Gear up for grabs. And let’s not forget another chance to get your hands on exclusive cars like the 2017 Ford GT Forza Edition, the 1998 Subaru Impreza 22B STi Forza Edition, and the elusive 1958 MG MGA Twin-Cam, which is the reward in our month-long “September Showcase” #Forzathon event.