Forza Horizon 5 Festival Playlist Weekly Challenges Guide Series 26 – Winter

As the weather outside the window takes a distinct Autumnal turn, in the world of Forza Horizon 5 it is already Winter! And I’m sure you know what that means by now – it is time to engage in some more racing and stunting across the land of Mexico with the Series 26 Winter Festival Playlist Weekly Challenges.

So, without further ado (it is getting quite hard now to write new and interesting intros to these articles, believe it or not) let’s crack on and roll into Winter! I’ve got some new cars and tunes that will help you through the challenges and tests on offer.

Part 1: Weekly Car Challenge – Mexico’s Very Own

The weekly challenge car this week focuses on a Vuhl 05RR from 2017, which makes up in speed what it lacks in a catchy name!

Designed and made right here in Mexico, this is an interesting choice to try out this week.

Should you not have one in your garage, the Autoshow should sort you out for a mere 100,000 credits

Chapter 1 – Road and Race

Get in your new car, take it for a spin. Step one complete! 

Chapter 2 – Ultralight

Now we need to earn two Barrel Roll skills, defined as doing a complete horizontal revolution in the air. The best place I’ve found is to slightly be off on a danger sign ramp, as it will cause the car to roll. Do your best!

Chapter 3 – Power Scaling

We now need to simply win a road race, which should be easy enough given how fast this thing is. Pick your best and let it rip!

Chapter 4 – Champion Racer

It’s photo time! We need to take a picture of the car at the Horizon Apex Outpost to complete this step, which seems pretty easy. Still do that and this week’s challenge will be done, pushing us yet another five points closer to the reward cars that are in place during Series 26. 

Part 2: Weekly Challenges, Championships and PR Stunts

With the obligatory driving of a car that no one would ever choose to drive in real life over and done with, it’s time for the meat and drink of the week. Let’s see what’s in the larder for Series 26 Winter shall we?

The Trial – Battling it Out

Now this could be interesting.

We need to pick either a Dodge or a Chevrolet car, tune it S1 Class 900, and then go racing 

There are a shedload of cars to pick from, so I stuck a pin in the garage and chose a Corvette Stingray, with share code : 846887118. This is the 2020 model for the avoidance of doubt.

Now, I saw a lot of really bad racing last week that let the driverbots win again and again.I thought we’d got over this but perhaps the need to race safe on Forza Motorsport sees the anger taken out in Horizon. Please let’s not crash into each other, okay?

Should we manage to win two out of three races, a lovely Ariel Nomad is ours.

Eventlab 1 – SPEEDINHUSKY Presents – Neon City Circuit Race

We need a Volkswagen here, tuned to B Class 700 for this race, and so I went with a Golf Gti, as you do. The share code for this 1983 model is 199093111.

This track is weird, as there are multiple routes through it that don’t appear on the map. I’m not sure about this one, to be honest.

The prize for completing this race is a Super Wheelspin.

Eventlab 2 – DEXTER41300 Presents Ek’Balam Rally Cross GP 2

For this Eventlab, we need to use an Classic Rally Car, with a tuning limit of C Class 600. Still not exactly Fast and Furious territory is it? 

I used a Mini Cooper from 1065 with share code 861264673.

The track here is too long for its own good, especially as we are forced to do three laps. The layout is pretty good though, and I loved the dinosaurs!

But there’s a prize on offer for completion – a Puebla Mexican Suit. No new dinosaur suit? Wasted opportunity.

PR Stunt 1 –  Danger Sign – Hotel

This week the tuning limit for these events is A Class 800, and the car used must be a Toyota. I went with an FJ40, and the share name is FJ40 with my GT, Red620Ti. Remember the good old days when you could just share a tune immediately? Oh, I miss those days.

Anyways, we need to jump 90m and as the best approach is off road in a straight line, this should be managed easily.

We get a Super Wheelspin in return though. It’ll do. Like we need wheelspins…

PR Stunt 2 – Speed Trap – Oceano Azul

The target this time is 117mph, and the choice of car is still restricted – so this time I used a GR Supra, with share code : 984217186. The road is pretty straight so just nail it! Foot. To. The. Floor. 

Another Super Wheelspin awaits. 

PR Stunt 3 -Speed Zone – Atlantes De Tula

Here we need to maintain an average speed of 113 mph, and so I went with the same car as above. Let’s save the pennies, eh?

There’s a bend in the middle that is sharper than it looks, so be a bit careful.

Luckily the course is nice and long and so it isn’t too hard.

Yet another Super Wheelspin to add to the pile. 

Seasonal Championship 1 – Lurking in the Jungle

Tuning Limit of B Class 700 this week, and the category is “Cars from the 2010s”. 

There is a lot of choice here, but I went with a VW Golf R from 2014, with share code : 597184084.

For winning outright solo, or best two out of three in a convoy, we can take home a Subaru BRZ.

Seasonal Championship 2 – Perfect Match

The racing here takes on an off road twist, and we need an Offroad vehicle in the B Class 700 range to take part. 

I went with an Alumicraft Class 10 Race Car, and the share code is : 401432454.

We can walk away with another prize for winning, a Renault Clio.

Seasonal Playground Games – Powerlifting.

We need to play a game this week for a full house, and the cars must be Classic Muscle in the C Class 600 tuning range. I went with a Camaro Super Sport Coupe, from 1969, and the share code is : 111544579.

We can take a Saleen S1 home for our trouble.

Part 3: Other Challenges

There’s always more to get involved in than just the racing, and that is the case again this week.

There’s the Photo Challenge, and a Treasure Hunt to get stuck into. There’s also the Horizon Open Racing to do. Except it’s not racing, but you’ll see what I mean.

Photo Challenge – #NEWHOME

This time the subject of the photo challenge is a 1998 Nissan Silvia K’s Aero, and the location is the Cas Bella player house. The twist is that your character has to be outside the car, so dive into the menus ([press Y in photo mode) and make it so.

I’ll post my artistic effort right at the top of tis article. The location is the image below. Let me know what you think.

The reward? A new Forzalink Phrase “Last Man Standing”. Perfect. 

Treasure Hunt – Sinking Your Teeth In

The clue this time reads “Catch up to your prey across the country as this big cat takes first place” and is accompanied by a picture of a Jaguar i-Pace. So I guess we need to win a cross country race?

Choose your fave and let the big cat go! I’ll share the location of the treasure chest below. It contains 100,000 credits, which is nice.

Horizon Open – Access Denied

We have to play Team Flag Rush this week, and deny five flags.

The easiest way I have found to do this is to park in the zone, and just nip back and forth to pick off the other team as they come over. It could be any class, so just do your best!

For doing this, we can take home a Parade Car horn. Awesome.

Part 4: Hot Wheels Events

If you have the Hot Wheels expansion and are an Elite Level player, then you get to enjoy a couple of extra events.

Seasonal PR Stunt – Drift Zone – Horizon Nexus

This week, we are limited to the same restrictions as previously, an A Class Toyota.

Time to slide! Now, the car I recommended above was set up as AWD, so drifting isn’t really in its remit. Instead, I set up a classic Supra, the Mark IV. The share name is MKIV with my GT, Red620Ti. With 900 bhp under the bonnet, it isn’t shy!

We need to score over 105,000 drift points.

A Super Wheelspin is your reward. Yes, you read that right – Another Super Wheelspin. 

Seasonal Championship – Smashing the Competition

It is time for a Modern Muscle car, tuned to A Class 800. As always, the answer for me is the Mustang, and I went for a Shelby GT500, with share code : 402868577.

Completing the championship will get us a BMW M4 from 2014.

Part 5: Rally Adventure Events

The Rally Adventure expansion brings even more events to the roster and provided you are already a Horizon Badlands champion, you’ll get access to… 

Seasonal PR Stunt – Danger Sign – Palm Forest

Same car limit, but a bit of light jumping about to do.

Step up the FJ40 from above, and the share code is still a mystery, so just look for FJ40 and my GT, Red620Ti. We need to hit 228 metres to clear this one. Slightly easier this week! 

The prize is another Super Wheelspin.

Seasonal Championship – Down the Hatch

This time we need an C Class 600 Retro Hot Hatch, and of the choice on offer, I opted for a stock Honda Civic Type R from 2004, as it is the proper level already.

For winning out, we can take away a Mercedes Benz A45.

With Series 26 over the halfway point, the Series reward motors start coming up for grabs. This time around they are a Ferrari 250GT for 80 points, and for 160 pts it is a Ferrari F8 Tributo, a hard to find set of wheels. You can start on your journey to Ferrari ownership this week. 

If you need a few extra points to get you over the line, the monthly Rivals challenges are here; Chihuahua Circuit for proper cars, and Desierto Trail for EV’s. Stick some clean laps and Bob should be the brother of your mother. 

4 points are on offer if you return clean laps for each one, so worth having a go at!

Grab enough points and Series 26 Winter will also see you gifted with the exclusive Bronco Raptor for 20 points. Additionally, for 40 points we can get a Plymouth Fury, if you ever wanted to pretend to be Christine!

Stick around for the tunes you’ll need for Spring of Series 26 in the last week of the series next week, before I’m sure another month of delights pop up.  

To enjoy these events in the Festival Playlist Weekly Challenges, you’ll need a copy of Forza Horizon 5. It’s available on Game Pass, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC and on the cloud via mobile. The Xbox Store will sort you out with a download. 

Let us know in the comments if I have helped, hindered or missed the mark with these tunes.