Forza Horizon 5 Tuning Guide
Part 2 - General Tuning
This part explains how to setup cars in a way that they will work good on all track surfaces.
This also serves a basis for road and off-road tuning which will be covered in Part 3 and 4 so make sure to read this first before advancing to these topics.
Understanding Tuning Relevant Car Properties
As in Part 1 explained car type and body type are the most important factors when it comes to tuning, but there are also other individual car properties that have great impact on the tuning, most notable are drivetrain, power and weight.
The following table gives an overview which car property affects which tuning area. Please refer to the related section in the tuning guide for detailed explanations.
Car Property Tires Gearing Alignment ARBs Springs Dampers Aero Brakes Diff
Car Type ✓ ✓ ✓
Body Type ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Drivetrain ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Power ✓ ✓
Weight ✓ ✓ ✓
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Suspension ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Chassis Reinf. ✓ ✓
Transmission ✓
Differential ✓
Tire Compound ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Tire Width ✓ ✓
Aero Kits ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
✓ New in Horizon 5
Tires
Tire pressure tuning first and foremost depends on the used tire compound. The general rule here is the softer the tire compound the higher tire pressure is required. Reasoning for that is that besides grip tires also provide a basic level of rigidity and therefore control. Softer tire compounds like Sport or Race compound provide more grip but also have less rigidity than Stock or Street compound. Increased tire pressure compensates for lower level of rigidity of softer compounds.
Off-road tires generally require lower tire pressures than street, sport or race compounds for best performance.
Changed in Horizon 5 Tire pressure tuning in Horizon 5 has changed since Horizon 5 takes place in a much warmer region than Horizon 4, therefore tire pressures generally need to be increased by 3 psi as compared to Horizon 4 for best performance.
Generally front and rear tire pressures should be the same. Having different tire pressures on front and rear tires creates over- or understeer effects and is only required when tuning for speed, grip or specific tracks.
Tire Compound Tire Pressure
Stock 31.0
Street 31.0
Sport 31.5
Semi Race 32.0 New in Horizon 5
Semi Race Horizon 32.0 New in Horizon 5
Race Slicks 32.5
Snow 30.5
Vintage Race 29.0 New in Horizon 5
Vintage Race White Wall 29.0 New in Horizon 5
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Off-road 25.0
Rally 25.5
Off-road Race 26.0
Vintage Rally 22.5
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Drift 35.0 New in Horizon 5
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Drag 20.5
If you are running on stock tire compound keep in my mind that the stock tire compound may not be Stock compound for all cars. Generally modern race cars are equipped with race slicks (only drag compound is available as upgrade), while vintage race cars are equipped with vintage race compound. Likewise for some sports cars the stock tire compound is sport compound. And for most off-road cars the stock compound is off-road compound or off-road race compound (off-road race compound is actually denoted with the Offroad tires icon in-game).
Race Cars and High Performance Cars
Aside from tire compound tire pressure tuning also depends on the type of car as high performance cars and race cars require higher tire pressure for improved control than street or sports cars. That means for high performance cars and race cars you need to add an additional 0.5 psi on top of the base tire pressure for best tire performance.
Car Type Tire Pressure Offset
High Performance Car +0.5
Race Car +0.5
Race Truck +0.5
Prototype Race Car +0.5
GP Race Car +0.5
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Off-road Race Truck +0.5
Relevant Car Upgrades
Car Property Change Effect on Tire Pressure
Tire Compound Change Increase/Decrease
Alignment
Camber
Camber settings are car type specific. As a general rule of thumb: older cars require less static camber because the more flexible chassis / suspension creates more dynamic camber. Modern cars with more rigid chassis / suspension can be run with higher camber.
Static camber should be set so that the (dynamic) camber on the apex when you start accelerating out of a turn is around 0 to maximize tire contact patch which in turn provides maximum tire grip. This is especially important for the driven wheels.
Front camber is usually higher than rear. Exception are open-wheel cars with its very unique suspension geometry that requires higher rear camber.
Car Type Usual Camber Range
(Race Suspension)
Utility Car -3.0 to 0.0
Street Car -3.0 to 0.0
Sports Car -3.0 to 0.0
High Performance Car -2.5 to -1.0
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Race Car -2.5 to -1.5
Race Truck -2.0 to 0.0
Prototype Race Car -2.0 to -1.0
GP Race Car -3.5 to -1.5
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rally Sports Car -3.0 to 0.0
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Off-road Buggy -2.5 to -1.0
Off-road Car -2.5 to -1.0
Off-road Sports Car -2.5 to -1.0
Off-road Truck -3.0 to -2.0
Off-road Race Truck -2.5 to -2.0
The ranges given account for different body types within the car type.
Rally and off-road suspension generally require higher camber than race suspension. Simply reduce race suspension front camber by 1.0 and rear camber by 0.5 to get required camber for rally or off-road suspension.
Car Type Usual Camber Range
(Rally / Off-road Suspension)
Utility Car -4.0 to -0.5
Street Car -4.0 to -0.5
Sports Car -4.0 to -0.5
High Performance Car -3.5 to -1.5
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Race Car -3.5 to -2.0
Race Truck -3.0 to -0.5
Prototype Race Car -3.0 to -1.5
GP Race Car -4.5 to -2.0
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Rally Sports Car -4.0 to -0.5
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Off-road Buggy -3.5 to -1.5
Off-road Car -3.5 to -1.5
Off-road Sports Car -3.5 to -1.5
Off-road Truck -4.0 to -2.5
Off-road Race Truck -3.0 to -0.5
The ranges given account for different body types within the car type.
Open Wheel Cars
Open wheel cars require lower rear camber than regular closed wheel cars to compensate for less body roll on the rear.
Rear Camber Offset
Open Wheel Car -1.0
Relevant Car Upgrades
Keep in my mind that tire width directly influence camber settings. This is due to wider tires increase contact patch, so for optimal grip camber needs to be reduced as well.
Car Property Change Effect on Camber
Front Tire Width Increase Reduce front camber
Front Tire Width Decrease Increase front camber
Rear Tire Width Increase Reduce rear camber
Rear Tire Width Decrease Increase rear camber
Suspension Race -> Rally Increase front and rear camber
Suspension Rally -> Race Decrease front and rear camber
Toe
I usually don't touch toe as this from my experience creates almost always unwanted imbalance during turning.
The only exception is that I use rear toe-in (max. -0.3) for older road and off-road cars as I find this improves accelerating out of turns, i.e. reduces on-throttle understeer.
Car Type Rear Toe
Utility Car -0.3-0.0
Street Car -0.3-0.0
Sports Car -0.3-0.0
High Performance Car 0.0
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Race Car 0.0
Race Truck 0.0
Prototype Race Car 0.0
GP Race Car 0.0
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Rally Sports Car -0.1-0.0
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Off-road Buggy -0.3-0.0
Off-road Car -0.3-0.0
Off-road Sports Car -0.3-0.0
Off-road Truck -0.3-0.0
Off-road Race Truck -0.3-0.0
The ranges given account for different body types within the car type.
Caster
Caster is also a car type specific setting. As a general rule of thumb modern sports cars, high performance cars and race cars require higher caster than street cars or trucks to stabilize the car while cornering. Older cars can be run with the standard 5.0 caster.
Car Type Caster
(Race Suspension)
Utility Car 5.0
Street Car 5.0
Sports Car 5.0/6.5 Changed in Horizon 5
High Performance Car 5.0
--------------------------------------------------------------
Race Car 5.0/6.0 Changed in Horizon 5
Race Truck 6.0 Changed in Horizon 5
Prototype Race Car 5.0/6.0 Changed in Horizon 5
GP Race Car 5.0/6.0 Changed in Horizon 5
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Rally Sports Car 5.0/6.5 Changed in Horizon 5
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Off-road Buggy 6.5
Off-road Car 5.0
Off-road Sports Car 6.5
Off-road Truck 5.0 Changed in Horizon 5
Off-road Race Truck 2.0/5.0
The ranges given account for different body types within the car type.
For most cars rally and off-road suspension require different caster settings due to different suspension geometry compared to race suspension. As a general rule of thumb sports, race and rally cars require high caster, off-road cars and trucks require medium caster and off-road race cars and trucks require low caster.
Car Type Caster
(Rally / Off-road Suspension)
Utility Car 5.0 Changed in Horizon 5
Street Car 5.0 Changed in Horizon 5
Sports Car 6.5
High Performance Car 6.5
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Race Car 6.0 Changed in Horizon 5
Race Truck 6.0 Changed in Horizon 5
Prototype Race Car 6.0 Changed in Horizon 5
GP Race Car 6.0 Changed in Horizon 5
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Rally Sports Car 6.5
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Off-road Buggy 2.0
Off-road Car 5.0 Changed in Horizon 5
Off-road Sports Car 6.5 Changed in Horizon 5
Off-road Truck 5.0 Changed in Horizon 5
Off-road Race Truck 2.0
Car Property Change Effect on Caster
Suspension Race -> Rally depending on car type increase. decrease or keep
Suspension Rally -> Race depending on car type increase. decrease or keep
Anti-roll Bars
Anti-roll bars (ARBs) control the weight transition between left and right (or inner and outer) wheels during cornering. Softer ARBs create more body roll leading to more weight shifting to the outer wheels. Stiffer ARBs reduce body roll and thus provide less weight shifting during cornering. Soft ARBs provide more grip during cornering but can result into sluggish car behaviour when setup too soft. Stiff ARBs provide more control during cornering but can result into harsh and unpredictable car behaviour when setup too stiff.
Generally ARBs need to be setup in relation to chassis stiffness and vehicle weight, i.e. the more rigid the chassis is the lower the ARBs can be set. Likewise the less the car weights the lower the ARBs can be set.
20/20 is good middle ground for modern road cars around 3000lbs and 50% weight distribution and corresponds to an ARB stiffness of around 63%. Increase ARBs for cars with more weight and / or less rigid chassis (e.g. older cars). Decrease ARBs for cars with less weight and / or more rigid chassis (e.g. race cars).
Front and rear ARB distribution has a relation to weight distribution, so in general a car with more front weight should have also higher front ARBs than rear. This is however not as simple as 1:1 distribution according to weight distribution because springs and dampers also affect car balance during turning.
A good starting point for ARB distribution for RWD cars is 1 per 1% weight distribution difference to 50%, i.e. for 51% front weight distribution the front ARB should be 1 higher than the rear ARB. Older cars and muscle cars require higher spread (>1 per 1%) while race cars require lower spread.
Example: ARBs for a modern RWD road car with 3000lbs @ 51% wd would be:
ARB distribution = 51%-50% = 1% --> 1*1 = 1, divide by 2 to split equally between front and rear --> 0.5
Front: 20 + 0.5 = 20.5 and Rear: 20 - 0.5 = 19.5.
Car Type ARB stiffness ARB distribution
(RWD)
Utility Car 63-66% 1.00-2.95
Street Car 63-66% 0.98-1.50
Sports Car 61-65% 0.66-1.00
High Performance Car 40-46% 0.55-0.65
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Race Car 35-62% 0.35-0.80
Race Truck 15% 0.35
Prototype Race Car 28-48% 0.25-0.35
GP Race Car 18% 0.35
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Rally Sports Car 60-63% 0.70-0.77
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Off-road Buggy 61-65% 1.45-2.95
Off-road Car 61-65% 1.45-2.95
Off-road Sports Car 61-65% 1.45-2.95
Off-road Truck 61-65% 1.55-3.00
Off-road Race Truck 61-65% 1.00-2.53
The ranges given account for different body types within the car type.
ARB Stiffness
ARB stiffness is a metric to calculate ARB base values based on the cars weight and a weight distribution of 50%.
The formula to determine ARBs for a given ARB stiffness and a weight distribution of 50% looks like this:
Base ARB = (Weight / 2) / (200 - 200 * ARB stiffness)
Example: Street Car with 2500 lb and ARB stiffness of 63% and ARB distribution of 1.00:
Base ARB = (2500 / 2) / (200 - 200 * 63%) = 16.89
Depending on the cars weight distribution and ARB distribution front and rear ARBs are distributed around the ARB base value:
Weight Distribution Front ARB Rear ARB
52% 17.89 15.89
51% 17.39 16.39
50% 16.89 16.89
49% 16.39 17.39
48% 15.89 17.89
FWD Cars
For FWD cars generally ARBs need to be setup in reverse to RWD with regard to ARB distribution. So a good starting point would be -1 per 1% weight distribution for modern road cars around 3000lbs.
Example: ARBs for a modern FWD street car with 3000lbs @ 60% wd would be:
ARB distribution = 60%-50% = 10% --> 10*-1 = -10, divide by 2 to split equally between front and rear --> -5
Front: 20 + (-5) = 15 and Rear: 20 - (-5) = 25
AWD Cars
AWD cars require a lower ARB distribution than RWD cars to combat inherent understeer. A good starting point is 0.66 -per 1% weight distribution for AWD cars, i.e. for 51% front weight distribution the front ARB should be 0.66 higher than rear ARB.
Relevant Car Upgrades
Adding chassis reinforcement upgrade increases chassis rigidity (sport chassis increases chassis rigidity by 3%, race chassis increases chassis rigidity by 6%), i.e. ARBs should be reduced accordingly.
Car Property Change Effect on ARBs
Weight Increase Increase
Weight Decrease Decrease
Power Increase Increase
Chassis Reinforcem. Street None
Chassis Reinforcem. Sport Decrease1
Chassis Reinforcem. Race Decrease2
1 Reduce ARB stiffness by 3%
2 Reduce ARB stiffness by 6%
Springs
Springs control the weight transition during directional changes and between front and rear wheels during acceleration and braking. Softer springs provide more grip but can lead to sluggish car behaviour during directional changes or locking front wheels under braking and when setup too soft. Stiffer springs provide more control but can lead to harsh unpredictable car behaviour during directional changes or wheel spin when accelerating when setup too stiff.
Spring rates need to be setup in relation to car weight, weight distribution and chassis / suspension stiffness. More weight requires stiffer springs and more flexible chassis / suspension require higher spring rates on the non driven wheels (front for RWD) and lower spring rates on driven wheels (rear for RWD).
Distribution of front and rear spring rates is related to weight distribution, so cars with more front weight will require also higher front spring rates. As with ARBs this is not a simple 1:1 distribution according to weight distribution as for instance the drive wheels are usually run with lower springs rates in relation to non driven wheels to reduce wheel spin.
As others suggested a good range is between 1/3 and 1/2 of the slider though there are exceptions where you need to run above or below that range.
These are the ranges for spring rates I usually operate (given in percentage of distributed front / rear weight) on RWD cars:
Car Type Front Spring Rate Rear Spring Rate
(RWD & Race Suspension)
Utility Car 93-100% 57-80%
Street Car 93-100% 57-80%
Sports Car 87-98% 58-80%
High Performance Car 85-93% 63-84%
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Race Car 83-93% 59-85%
Race Truck 80% 90%
Prototype Race Car 79-83% 70-89%
GP Race Car 66% 79%
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Rally Sports Car 87-94% 60-80%
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Off-road Buggy 94-100% 57-80%
Off-road Car 94-100% 57-80%
Off-road Sports Car 94-100% 57-80%
Off-road Truck 94-100% 57-80%
Off-road Race Truck 94-100% 57-80%
The ranges given account for different body types within the car type.
Example: RWD road car with 3000lbs @ 52% wd
front springs would be between:
3000 / 2 * 52% * 86% = 670 and
3000 / 2 * 52% * 100% = 780 depending on body type.
For FWD cars simply swap front and rear spring rates. For AWD cars use RWD rear spring rate for front springs and add 0.05-0.9% offset for rear spring rate depending on body type. Older cars require higher offset than modern cars and race cars require a lower offset than productions cars.
For rally suspension simply use half of the springs rates as compared to race suspension since rally suspension provides exactly half of the spring rate ranges as race suspension.
For cars with off-road suspension (these are all off-road cars with a stock adjustable suspension) suspension tuning works a little bit different than for race or rally suspension. Instead of using front and rear spring rates that are related to front and rear weight, front and rear springs must be related to available front and rear spring ranges. So a front spring rate of 39% means front springs must be set to 39% of the available front spring range with 0% would be the minimum allowed front spring rate and 100% the maximum allowed front spring rate.
The available front and rear spring range can be calculated by multiplying the cars weight with the (car specific) minimum and maximum front and rear spring rates.
Car Type Front Spring Rate Rear Spring Rate
(Off-road Suspension)
Off-road Buggy 39-40% 6-7%
Off-road Car 39-40% 6-7%
Off-road Sports Car 39-40% 6-7%
Off-road Truck 39-40% 6-7%
Open Wheel Off-road Car 39-40% 6-7%
Off-road Race Truck 38-39% 6-7%
The ranges given account for different body types within the car type.
Example: RWD off-road buggy with stock adjustable suspension, 2200lbs, front springs min/max: 77.8/142.6, rear springs min/max: 95.1/142.6
front springs would be between:
77.8 + (142.6-77.8) * 39% = 103.1 and
77.8 + (142.6-77.8) * 40% = 103.7 depending on body type.
AWD and FWD Cars
For AWD cars use the same spring rates as RWD cars. for FWD cars simply swap front and rear spring rates.
Relevant Car Upgrades
Changing suspension requires to adjust spring rates, when upgrading from race to rally suspension spring rates need to be halved, likewise when upgrading from rally suspension to race suspension spring rates need to be doubled.
Adding chassis reinforcement upgrade increases chassis rigidity, i.e. springs should be reduced accordingly.
Increasing tire width also requires springs to be increased to compensate for added grip. For each 10 mm increase in tire width increase springs by 0.5%. This is usually in the range of 0-5lb depending on increased tire width.
Also when adding aero springs need to be increased to compensate for added downforce. However the exact impact of downforce on springs is not simple to determine as it not only involves the amount of added downforce but must also take into account the deviation of downforce from balanced downforce level.
Car Property Change Effect on Springs
Weight Increase Increase
Weight Decrease Decrease
Suspension Rally -> Race Double springs
Suspension Race -> Rally Halve springs
Front Tire Width Increase Increase front springs
Front Tire Width Decrease Decrease front springs
Rear Tire Width Increase Increase rear springs
Rear Tire Width Decrease Decrease rear springs
Front Downforce Increase Increase front springs
Front Downforce Decrease Decrease front springs
Rear Downforce Increase Increase rear springs
Rear Downforce Decrease Decrease rear springs
Chassis Reinforcem. Street None
Chassis Reinforcem. Sport Decrease front springs1
Chassis Reinforcem. Race Decrease front springs2
1 Reduce front spring rate by 2.75%
2 Reduce front spring rate by 5.5%
Balanced Downforce
Balanced downforce levels depend on the cars weight distribution and are distributed around the cars aerodynamic ideal front weight distribution of 47%. For a car with 47% front weight distribution and a Standard Forza race aero kit (100-220/220-441) balanced downforce is achieved e.g. when both downforce sliders are set to minimum values (110/220) . The higher you go the more rear downforce is required to achieve balanced downforce, e.g. 165/358 or 198/441. For cars with higher front weight distribution rear downforce slider must be higher than front downforce slider depending on how much the cars front weight distribution differs from 47%. Likewise for cars with lower front weight distribution rear downforce slider must be lower than front downforce slider to achieve balanced downforce levels. For each %1 difference of car weight distribution from 47% rear downforce must be increased or decreased by 1.866667lb. So balanced downforce levels kind of equalize the deviation of the cars front weight distribution from the ideal 47% front weight distribution by increasing or decreasing rear downforce in relation to front downforce.
Usually balanced downforce only affects rear downforce but if balanced aero would require to increase rear downforce beyond maximum possible rear downforce, rear downforce is set to maximum and front aero is reduced instead. Likewise if balanced downforce would require to reduce rear downforce lower than minimum allowed front downforce, rear downforce is set to minimum and front downforce is increased instead.
Example: FWD production car with 64% wd, Standard Forza aerokit (50-100/75-200):
Balanced rear downforce for 75lb front downforce:
137 + (64-47) * 1.866667 = 168.7339 --> 169lb
To sum up the impact of downforce on springs consist of two factors:
-
amount of added downforce: for each 10lb added front downforce increase front springs by 0.5, for each 25lb added rear downforce increase rear springs by 0.5
-
deviation from balanced downforce: for each 2lb difference of front / rear downforce from balanced front / rear downforce increase or decrease front / rear springs by 0.5
Keep in mind that not only adjustable race aero kits provide downforce that has an impact on springs but also non-adjustable stock, street or sports aero kits, albeit much more subtle.
Aero Kit Downforce
Stock Front Bumper1 10lb
Street Front Bumper 10lb
Sport Front Bumper 40lb
Stock Rear Wing2 25lb
Street Rear Wing 25lb
Sport Rear Wing 70lb
Stock Rear Bumper1 25lb
Street Rear Bumper 25lb
Sport Rear Bumper 50lb
1 Some off-road cars and trucks don't have stock bumpers, so in this case there is no downforce applied
2 Many cars don't have a stock rear wing, so in this case there is no downforce applied
Example: FWD road car with 2198lb, 64% wd, stock aero (10/25/25), front springs: 563.9, rear springs 370.9
Adding front and rear race aero kit with stock downforce 75/137 (balanced downforce for 64% wd is 75/169)
Front spring offset: (75-10)/10=6.5, 6.5*0.5=3.25
Rear spring offset: (137-25)/25=4.48, 4.48*0.5=2.24,(137-169)/2=-16,-16*0.5=-8, total rear spring offset: 2.24-8=-5.76
New front springs: 563.9 + 3.25 = 567.15
New rear springs: 370.9 - 5.76 = 365.14
Ride Height
Ride height works as an additional stabilizing factor like aero and a higher ride height generally allows you to brake and accelerate faster. However raising ride height also raises the center of mass which hurts turning. So there is a sweet spot for setting up the ride height which I call optimal ride height.
The optimal ride height for a car is the lowest ride height possible that is not lower than the cars minimum ride height. Each body type has a minimum ride height that is required to have enough suspension travel during cornering.
In general for older cars the minimum ride height is higher than for modern cars and for race cars the minimum ride height is lower than for productions cars.
Always keep front and rear ride height level , i.e. keep the sliders aligned. Having front and rear ride height sliders unaligned creates over- or understeer effects and is only required when tuning for grip, speed or specific tracks.
Car Type Min. Ride Height
Utility Car 5.0-7.0
Street Car 5.0-7.0
Sports Car 5.0-7.0
High Performance Car 4.0-5.0
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Race Car 4.0-6.0
Race Truck 4.5
Prototype Race Car 3.5-4.5
GP Race Car 5.5
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Rally Sports Car 5.0
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Off-road Buggy 5.0-7.0
Off-road Car 5.0-7.0
Off-road Sports Car 5.0-7.0
Off-road Truck 5.0-7.0
Off-road Race Truck 5.0-7.0
The ranges given are for different body types within the car type.
Note: Minimum ride height works in 0.5 increments and is most of the time an integer number.
Dampers
Getting damping right is one of the hardest parts when it comes to tuning and from my experience separates good tunes from excellent tunes.
Dampers control weight transition during directional changes and while turning. Bump helps you in initiating a directional change or entering a turn while rebound helps to maintain the speed while turning.
Setting bump too soft can result into corner diving while braking and entering a turn. Also too soft bump can make the car unresponsive to directional changes and provoking oscillation of the front springs making the car very bouncy. Setting bump too stiff can result in understeer while entering a turn. It also can create rear tire spin while accelerating out of a corner.
Setting rebound too soft makes the car oversteer on corner entry and generally unresponsive to directional changes. Setting rebound to stiff creates understeer during corner entry and while turning.
Dialing in dampers is a three step process:
-
1. Set front bump according to cars minimum bump stiffness and front weight
-
2. Set front rebound according to front bump and cars overall damping stiffness
-
3. Set rear rebound and bump according to front rebound and bump and relation of front and rear spring rates
First off adjust front bump according to cars minimum bump stiffness and front weight. Each body type has a minimum front bump required given in the table below. Generally older require higher bump stiffness than modern cars and race cars require lower bump stiffness than road cars.
Then increase front bump by 0.1 for each 200lb of front weight. Note that also front aero accounts for the cars front weight:
Front Weight = Weight * Weight Distribution + Front Downforce
Example: Modern street car with 2200lb, 64% wd, 200lb front downforce, 4.4 Min. Bump
Front Bump = 4.4 + (2200*64 + 200)/200 * 0.1 = 4.4 + 0.8 = 5.2
Car Type Min. Front Bump
Utility Car 5.0-5.2
Street Car 4.4-4.8
Sports Car 4.4-4.7
High Performance Car 4.5-4.9
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Race Car 4.7-4.9
Race Truck 5.0
Prototype Race Car 4.6-4.8
GP Race Car 4.5
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Rally Sports Car 4.4-4.5
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Off-road Buggy 5.0-5.1
Off-road Car 5.0-5.2
Off-road Sports Car 4.4-4.5
Off-road Truck 5.0-5.2
Off-road Race Truck 5.0-5.1
The ranges given account for different body types within the car type.
Next adjust front rebound according to front bump and cars damping stiffness. Each body type has an overall required damping stiffness. The damping stiffness is the sum of front bump and front rebound given in the table below. Generally older cars require lower damping stiffness than modern cars and race cars require higher damping stiffness than road cars.
Front Rebound = Damping Stiffness - Front Bump
Example: Same car as above, 16.4 Damping Stiffness
Front Rebound = 16.4 - 5.2 = 11.2
Car Type Damping Stiffness
Utility Car 15.8-16.4
Street Car 15.7-16.4
Sports Car 16.1-16.7
High Performance Car 16.7-20.3
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Race Car 20.3-20.7
Race Truck 24.6
Prototype Race Car 20.5-20.9
GP Race Car 16.6
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Rally Sports Car 16.5
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Off-road Buggy 16.1-16.3
Off-road Car 15.8-16.3
Off-road Sports Car 16.2-16.4
Off-road Truck 15.8-16.3
Off-road Race Truck 16.1-16.3
The ranges given account for different body types within the car type.
Finally adjust rear rebound and rear bump according to the relation between the relation of front and rear spring rates, i.e. if the rear spring rate is lower than the front spring percentage rate the rear dampers should also be lower than the front dampers and vice versa.
Front-Rear Spring Rate Front-Rear Rebound Front-Rear Bump
Difference Difference Difference
0 - 1.5% 0.2 0.1
1.5 - 35% 0.3 0.2
36 - 40% 0.6 0.4
>40% 1.2 0.8
<-40% -1.2 -0.8
-36 - -40% -0.6 -0.4
-1.5 - -35% -0.3 -0.2
>-1.5 - 0% -0.2 -0.1
Example: Same car as above with front spring rate 93%, rear spring rate is 80%
Spring rate difference: 93%-80% = 13%
Rear rebound should be 0.3 lower than front rebound
Rear bump should be 0.2 lower than front bump
Rear Rebound = 11.2 - 0.3 = 10.9
Rear Bump = 5.2 - 0.2 = 5.0
Rally / Off-road Suspension
Changed in Horizon 5 Even though rally suspension now offer the same damping range as race suspension (in Horizon 4 they only offered half of the damping range) they require slightly higher rebound compared to race suspension to keep the car planted while cornering.
The same applies to cars with off-road suspension, these are all off-road cars that are equipped with a stock adjustable suspension.
Rebound Offset
Rally Suspension +1.0
Off-road Suspension +1.0
Rally / Off-road Cars with Rally / Off-road Suspension
Rally and off-road cars equipped with rally or off-road suspensions generally require rear dampers that are higher than front dampers no matter how front and rear springs are setup. Simply use the table above and always use an positive offset for rear rebound and bump in relation to front rebound and bump. For example even if front spring rate is 30% higher than rear sprig rate set rear rebound 0.3 higher that front rebound.
Prototype Race Cars and GP Race Cars
Prototype race cars and GP race cars require extra high damping due to extreme forces that impact the chassis while cornering. Prototype race cars require higher rear damping while GP race cars require higher front damping for best performance.
Front Damping Offset Rear Damping Offset
Prototype Race Car 0.0 +3.5
GP Race Car +3.5 0.0
Relevant Car Upgrades
When reducing weight bump might need to be increased and rebound need to be decreased to compensate for added front weight, for every 100lb front weight reduction rebound needs to increased by 0.1 and bump needs to be reduced by 0.1. Similarily when adding front weight, rebound has to be reduced and bump has to be increased.
When adding aero bump might need to be increased and rebound need to be decreased to compensate for added front downforce, this is usually in the range of 0.1-0.3 depending on amount of added downforce.
Car Property Change Effect on Dampers
Front Weight Increase Decrease rebound / Increase bump
Front Weight Decrease Increase rebound / Decrease bump
Front Downforce Increase Decrease rebound / Increase bump
Front Downforce Decrease Increase rebound / Decrease bump
Suspension Race -> Rally Increase rebound
Suspension Rally -> Race Decrease rebound
Brakes
Brake tuning in Forza depends on the type of car and the type of drivetrain. Generally speaking race cars require more braking force on the rear and higher brake pressure than road cars and off-road and rally cars require more braking force on the front than road cars.
Also heavier cars like trucks require higher brake pressure than lighter cars like buggies.
Car Type Brake Distribution Brake Pressure
(Race Suspension)
Utility Car 50% 120%
Street Car 52% 125%
Sports Car 52% 125%
High Performance Car 54% 135%
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Race Car 56% 145%
Race Truck 56% 145%
Prototype Race Car 56% 145%
GP Race Car 52% 125%
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Rally Sports Car 48% 125%
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Off-road Buggy 46% 110%
Off-road Car 48% 115%
Off-road Sports Car 48% 115%
Off-road Truck 52% 135%
Off-road Race Truck 52% 135%
Rally or off-road suspension generally require more braking force on the front as compared to race suspension.
Car Type Brake Distribution Brake Pressure
(Rally / Off-road Suspension)
Utility Car 50% 120%
Street Car 48% 125%
Sports Car 48% 125%
High Performance Car 50% 135%
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Race Car 52% 145%
Race Truck 52% 145%
Prototype Race Car 52% 145%
GP Race Car 48% 125%
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rally Sports Car 48% 125%
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Off-road Buggy 46% 110%
Off-road Car 48% 115%
Off-road Sports Car 48% 115%
Off-road Truck 52% 135%
Off-road Race Truck 52% 135%
Differential
Differential is for fine tuning corner entry and exit behaviour. Also a good ratio between accel and decel supports smooth cornering without unnecessary corrections.
Generally older cars require lower accel and higher decel than modern cars and race cars require higher accel and lower decel than road cars. Also off-road cars require lower differential settings than road cars.
New in Horizon 5 Differential tuning now also depends if a race, rally, off-road or drift differential is installed. The new rally and off-road differentials offer better turning capabilities on dirt and off-road tracks and generally require a higher accel and a lower decel tuning than race differentials. The also new available drift differential is similar to a race differential but it designed to improve drifting as compared to race differential and requires slightly lower accel and decel (more open) differential tuning than the race differential.
RWD Cars
Changed in Horizon 5 Generally Horizon 5 uses a lower differential tuning as Horizon 4. 28/45 is now good middle ground for modern road, sports and rally cars, increase accel and/or decrease decel for cars with more rigid chassis/suspension (i.e. super cars, GT race cars etc.), decrease accel and/or increase decel for cars with more flexible chasssis/suspension (i.e. older cars).
Changed in Horizon 5 0/15 is good middle ground for modern off-road cars, decrease accel and/or increase decel for older off-road cars with more flexible chasssis/suspension.
Changed in Horizon 5 52/0 is good middle ground for modern prototype race cars, decrease accel or older prototype race cars.
Changed in Horizon 5 2/0 is good middle ground for classic GP race cars
Changed in Horizon 5 What also have been changed is that generally accel tuning only works good in 2% increments so make sure that the accel is always an even number. This is now inline with how Forza 7 treats differential accel tuning.
Car Type Accel Decel
(Race Suspension & Race Diff)
Utility Car 24-28% 45-46%
Street Car 24-28% 45-46%
Sports Car 24-28% 45-46%
High Performance Car 28% 44%
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Race Car 28-30% 43-44%
Race Truck 30% 44%
Prototype Race Car 52-54% 0%
GP Race Car 2% 0%
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rally Sports Car 0% 14-15%
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Off-road Buggy 0% 0%
Off-road Car 0% 15-16%
Off-road Sports Car 0% 15-16%
Off-road Truck 0% 15-16%
Off-road Race Truck 0% 0%
The ranges given account for different body types within the car type.
Rally or off-road suspension generally require 10% lower diff settings as compared to race suspension.
Car Type Accel Decel
(Rally / Off-road Suspension & Race Diff)
Utility Car 14-18% 35-36%
Street Car 14-18% 35-36%
Sports Car 14-18% 35-36%
High Performance Car 18% 34%
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Race Car 18-20% 33-34%
Race Truck 20% 34%
Prototype Race Car 42-44% 0%
GP Race Car 0% 0%
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rally Sports Car 0% 4-5%
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Off-road Buggy 0% 0%
Off-road Car 0% 5-6%
Off-road Sports Car 0% 5-6%
Off-road Truck 0% 5-6%
Off-road Race Truck 0% 0%
The ranges given account for different body types within the car type.
New in Horizon 5 Rally, Off-road and Drift Differentials
Rally and off-road differentials require higher accel and lower decel tuning as compared to race differentials for improved turning on dirt or off-road tracks. Drift differentials require slightly lower accel and decel tuning.
Accel Offset Decel Offset
Rally Differential +24% -20%
Off-road Differential +48% -40%
Drift Differential -10% -10%
Open Wheel Cars
Open wheel cars generally require a more open (=lower) diff than regular closed wheel cars to combat inherent understeer due to car design.
Accel Offset Decel Offset
Open Wheel Car -24% set to 0%
FWD Cars
For FWD cars use the RWD diff settings as basis and set them according to following scheme:
Front Accel: RWD Accel - 20%
Front Decel: 0%
AWD Cars
For AWD cars use the RWD diff settings as basis and set them according to following scheme:
Front Accel: RWD Accel
Front Decel: 0%
Rear Accel: 100%
Rear Decel: RWD Decel
Changed in Horizon 5 Diff Distr.: In Horizon 5 differential distribution depends on the installed differential:
Race Diff: RWD Accel + 50% (2% + 48%),
Rally Diff: RWD Accel + 26% (2% + 24%)
Offroad Diff: RWD Accel + 14% (2% + 12%)
Changed in Horizon 5 AWD Drivetrain Swaps
Cars with an AWD drivetrain swap are now automatically equipped with a stock rally differential, tune it accordingly (see above).
Gearing
With Horizon 5 transmission tuning has easily become the single most complex tuning area due to the introduction of new race transmission types including specialized race transmissions for drivetrain swaps, new rally, off-road and drift transmissions and more diverse transmission tuning for road, rally and off-road cars.
First of all for general tuning most of the time only adjustment of the final drive is required. Tuning single gears ratios is only required in some cases for rally, off-road or drift cars.
Setting up the final drive depends on the car type, power, the type of installed gearbox and installed aero kits. The general logic here is a car with more power requires a lower final drive and vice versa.
There are two types of gearboxes, Standard race gearboxes and custom race gearboxes:
-
Changed in Horizon 5 Standard Forza race gearbox with following gear ratios: 4.14/2.67/1.82/1.33/1.00/0.80
-
New in Horizon 5 Standard Forza 6-speed race gearbox with following gear ratios: 4.15/2.69/1.90/1.42/1.12/0.95/0.80
-
New in Horizon 5 Standard Forza 7-speed race gearbox with following gear ratios: 4.15/2.69/1.90/1.42/1.12/0.95/0.80
-
New in Horizon 5 Standard Forza 8-speed race gearbox with following gear ratios: 4.17/2.95/2.20/1.71/1.38/1.17/1.02/0.90
-
New in Horizon 5 Standard Forza 9-speed race gearbox with following gear ratios: 4.17/2.90/2.15/1.66/1.34/1.13/0.98/0.86/0.77
-
New in Horizon 5 Standard Forza 10-speed race gearbox with following gear ratios: 4.17/2.73/1.94/1.49/1.21/1.04/0.92/0.84/0.78/0.72
-
New in Horizon 5 Standard Forza 4-speed drift gearbox with following gear ratios: 2.89/1.99/1.34/1.00
-
Custom race gear box (any other race gearbox)
New in Horizon 5 When performing drivetrain swaps the car is now automatically equipped with a Standard 6-speed race gearbox. However this 6-speed race gearbox uses higher gear ratios than the normal Standard Forza race gearbox. Also the Standard 7-, 8-, 9- or 10-speed gearboxes uses different gear ratios than their normal variants when the car has a drivetrain swap. This gives another set of Standard Forza race gearboxes for drivetrain swaps:
-
Standard Forza RWD drivetrain swap stock 6-speed race gearbox with following gear ratios: 4.17/2.55/1.70/1.24/1.10/0.90
-
Standard Forza AWD drivetrain swap stock 6-speed race gearbox with following gear ratios: 4.15/3.01/2.31/1.82/1.47/1.24
-
Standard Forza drivetrain swap 6-speed race gearbox with following gear ratios: 4.14/2.67/1.82/1.33/1.00/0.80
-
Standard Forza drivetrain swap 7-speed race gearbox with following gear ratios: 4.15/2.69/1.90/1.42/1.12/0.95/0.80
-
Standard Forza drivetrain swap 8-speed race gearbox with following gear ratios: 4.17/2.95/2.20/1.71/1.38/1.17/1.02/0.90
-
Standard Forza drivetrain swap 9-speed race gearbox with following gear ratios: 4.17/2.90/2.15/1.66/1.34/1.13/0.98/0.86/0.77
-
Standard Forza drivetrain swap 10-speed race gearbox with following gear ratios: 4.17/2.73/1.94/1.49/1.21/1.04/0.92/0.84/0.78/0.72
-
Standard Forza RWD drivetrain swap 4-speed drift gearbox with following gear ratios: 2.89/1.99/1.35/1.00
-
Standard Forza AWD drivetrain swap 4-speed drift gearbox with following gear ratios: 2.89/1.99/1.34/1.00
The general principle here is that the installed gearbox is calibrated to the cars stock power and stock aero. If the car uses a standard Forza race gearbox, the gearing is scaled to a reference car with a stock power of 400hp with race front bumper and race rear wing equipped. If the car uses a standard Forza sport gearbox, the gearing is scaled to a reference car with a stock power of 400hp with sport front bumper and sport rear wing equipped.
If the car uses a custom gearbox the gearing is scaled to the cars stock power and stock aero.
Being calibrated means the cars stock gearing is already optimal for the cars stock power and stock aero. You only have to change the final drive if you change the cars power via engine upgrades or change the overall downforce profile by installing aero kits. For each 6hp increase over stock power you need to decrease the final drive by 0.01. Likewise for each 6hp decrease over stock power you need to increase the final drive by 0.01
Cars with Standard Forza race gearbox and 6-speed sport gearbox
For cars with a standard Forza race gearbox and a 6-speed sport gearbox both race and sport gearbox are scaled to a reference final drive of 4.25.
To get the required final drive subtract the cars power from 400hp (the reference cars stock power), divide it by 6hp, multiply it by 0.01 and add it to 4.25 (the reference final drive).
Example: Car with 325hp, stock final drive 4.21
400hp-325hp=75hp
75hp/6hp=12.5
12.5*0.01=0.125
4.25+0.125=4.375 --> Final Drive: 4.38
For cars with Standard Forza race gearbox that are not equipped with a race front bumper and race rear wing the final drive needs further to be reduced depending on installed aero kits to compensate for reduced downforce and therefore increased top speed:
Front Bumper Rear Wing Final Drive Offset
Race Race 0.00
Sport Race -0.05
Street Race -0.05
Stock1 Race -0.05
Removed Race -0.05
Race Sport -0.05
Race Street -0.05
Race Stock2 -0.05
Race Removed -0.05
Sport Sport -0.10
Street Sport -0.15
Stock1 Sport -0.15
Removed Sport -0.15
Sport Street -0.15
Sport Stock2 -0.15
Sport Removed -0.15
Street Street -0.20
Stock1 Street -0.25
Removed Street -0.25
Street Stock2 -0.25
Street Removed -0.25
Stock1 Stock2 -0.30
Removed Stock2 -0.35
Stock1 Removed -0.35
Removed Removed -0.40
1 For off-road cars and some classic cars that are not equipped with a stock front bumper use Removed instead of Stock
2 For off-road cars and cars are not equipped a with a stock rear wing use Removed instead of Stock
Likewise for cars with a Standard Forza sport gearbox that are not equipped with a sport front bumper and sport rear wing the final drive needs further to be increased/reduced depending on installed aero kits:
Front Bumper Rear Wing Final Drive Offset
Race Race 0.10
Sport Race 0.05
Street Race 0.05
Stock1 Race 0.05
Removed Race 0.05
Race Sport 0.05
Race Street 0.05
Race Stock2 0.05
Race Removed 0.05
Sport Sport 0.00
Street Sport -0.05
Stock1 Sport -0.05
Removed Sport -0.05
Sport Street -0.05
Sport Stock2 -0.05
Sport Removed -0.05
Street Street -0.20
Stock1 Street -0.25
Removed Street -0.25
Street Stock2 -0.25
Street Removed -0.25
Stock1 Stock2 -0.30
Removed Stock2 -0.35
Stock1 Removed -0.35
Removed Removed -0.30
1 For off-road cars and some classic cars that are not equipped with a stock front bumper use Removed instead of Stock
2 For off-road cars and cars that are not equipped a with a stock rear wing use Removed instead of Stock
For cars that are equipped with off-road, rally, off-road race, vintage rally tires the race gearbox is calibrated to a reference car with a stock power of 400hp with sport front bumper and sport rear wing equipped. This means the Final Drive Offset needs to be increased by 0.10 as compared to road tires.
Cars with Standard Forza race gearbox and 5-speed sport gearbox
Cars with a Standard Forza race gearbox and a 5-speed sport gearbox the sport gearbox is scaled to a reference final drive of 4.00.
Cars with Standard Forza race gearbox and 3- or 4-speed sport gearbox
Cars with a Standard Forza race gearbox and a 3- or 4-speed sport gearbox use a higher reference final drive for sport transmission.
For cars with a Standard Forza race gearbox and a 4-speed sport gearbox the sport gearbox is scaled to a reference final drive of 4.75.
For cars with a Standard Forza race gearbox and a 3-speed sport gearbox the sport gearbox is scaled to a reference final drive of 4.50.
Low Gearing Cars with Standard Forza race gearbox
Changed in Horizon 5 There are some cars (like the 1953 Chevrolet Corvette) which require a lower gearing than usual. These are all cars with a standard Forza race gearbox and a stock final drive <= 3.25.
For low gearing cars the race gearbox is scaled to a reference final drive of 3.25.
For low gearing cars with a 6-speed sport gearbox the sport gearbox is scaled to a reference final drive of 3.25.
For low gearing cars with a 5-speed sport gearbox the sport gearbox is scaled to a reference final drive of 3.00.
For low gearing cars with a 4-speed sport gearbox the sport gearbox is scaled to a reference final drive of 3.75.
For low gearing cars with a 3-speed sport gearbox the sport gearbox is scaled to a reference final drive of 3.50.
High Power Cars with Standard Forza race gearbox
Cars with a Standard Forza race gearbox and very high power (>=800hp) that would potentially exceed the available final drive range simply require to half the cars power and do the above calculation.
For low gearing cars this would mean that the resulting final drive would be too high (starting point is 4.25 for 800 hp) so for low gearing cars with 800 hp or more power an additional final drive decrease by -1.00 is required which makes the resulting final drive <= 3.25.
Low Power Cars with Standard Forza race gearbox
Cars with a Standard Forza race gearbox and very low power (<=200hp) that would potentially exceed the available final drive range simply require to double the cars power and do the above calculation.
Road Cars with Custom Gearbox
For road cars with a custom race gearbox the gearbox is scaled to the cars stock final drive and stock aero.
To get the required final drive subtract the cars power from the cars stock power, divide it by 6hp, multiply it by 0.01 and add it to the cars stock final drive.
Example: Car with 325hp, stock power 300hp, stock final drive 3.30
300hp-325hp=-25hp
-25hp/600=-0.04166667
3.30-0.04166667=3.25833333 --> Final Drive: 3.26
For cars with a custom race gearbox that have aero upgrades installed the final drive need to further be decreased depending on installed aero kits to compensate for increased downforce and therefore reduced top speed:
Front Bumper Rear Wing Final Drive Offset
Race Race 0.30
Sport Race 0.25
Street Race 0.25
Stock1 Race 0.25
Removed Race 0.25
Race Sport 0.25
Race Street 0.25
Race Stock2 0.25
Race Removed 0.25
Sport Sport 0.20
Street Sport 0.15
Stock1 Sport 0.15
Removed Sport 0.15
Sport Street 0.15
Sport Stock2 0.15
Sport Removed 0.15
Street Street 0.10
Stock1 Street 0.05
Removed Street 0.05
Street Stock2 0.05
Street Removed 0.05
Stock Stock2 0.00
Removed Stock2 -0.05
Stock1 Removed -0.05
Removed Removed -0.10
1 Many off-road cars and some classic cars are not equipped with a stock front bumper, in this case use Removed instead of Stock
2 Many cars are not equipped a with a stock rear wing, in this case use Removed instead of Stock
Road Cars with Custom Gearbox and Standard 6-, 7-, 8-, 9- or 10-speed race transmission.
Road cars with a custom gearbox that are equipped with the new Standard 6-, 7-, 8-, 9- or 10-speed race transmission require similar final drive tuning than cars with a Standard Forza gearbox. However cars with a high or low gearing custom gearbox require some additional final drive tuning to make sure that resulting final drive is not too high or too low.
Road cars with a high gearing custom gearbox are all cars with a custom gearbox and a stock final drive >= 5.00. Road cars with a low gearing custom gearbox are all cars with a custom gearbox and a stock final drive < 3.25.
Road cars with a high gearing custom gearbox that are equipped with a Standard 6-, 7-, 8-, 9- or 10-speed race transmission require additional final drive increase to avoid a too low resulting final drive.
Roads cars with a low gearing custom gearbox that are equipped with a Standard 6-, 7-, 8-, 9- or 10-speed race transmission and have 800 hp or more power require additional final drive decrease to avoid a too high resulting final drive which comes from the fact that for cars with 800 hp or more power Standard final drive tuning requires to halve the power (see above) which results in a higher starting point (4.25 for 800 hp) for high power cars.
Final Drive Offset
High Gearing +1.5
Low Gearing1 -1.0
1 only for low gearing cars with >= 800 hp.
Changed in Horizon 5 Rally and Off-road Cars with Standard Forza Gearbox
Rally and off-road cars with a Standard Forza gearbox (see above) generally require higher final drive tuning than road cars for best performance. For rally cars the reference final drive is 4.75 whereas for off-road cars the reference final drive is 5.00.
That means for rally cars final drive must be increased by 0.5 and for off-road cars final drive must be increased by 0.75 compared to road cars.
Final Drive Offset
Rally Car +0.50
Off-road Car +0.75
Changed in Horizon 5 Rally Cars with Custom Gearbox
There are two types of custom gearboxes that Rally cars use: either they use a custom race gearbox where gear ratios are tuned for really racing which means they are shorter for normal road racing. Some rally cars even use dedicated rally gearboxes (see below), that have final drive and gear ratios tuned for rally racing, which means both final and gear ratios are shorter.
For rally cars with custom gearboxes gear ratios need to be decreased for best performance for road racing.
Gear Ratio Offset
Rally Car -0.20
Changed in Horizon 5 Rally Cars with Rally Gearbox
Some rally cars have dedicated stock rally gearboxes, that have final drive and gear ratios tuned for rally racing, which means both final and gear ratios are shorter.
Rally gearboxes require to decrease both final and gear ratios for best performance for road racing.
Final Drive Offset Gear Ratio Offset
Rally Car -0.5 -0.20
Changed in Horizon 5 Low Gearing Rally Cars with Rally Gearbox
There are also rally cars that are equipped with a lower gearing stock rally gearbox, these are all rally gearboxes with a stock final final drive <= 3.50. Low gearing rally gearboxes actually require to increase final drive for road racing and keep stock gear ratios.
Final Drive Offset
Rally Car +0.5
Changed in Horizon 5 Off-road Cars with Custom Gearbox
There are two types of custom gearboxes that Offroad cars use: either they use a custom race gearbox where gear ratios are tuned for offroad racing which means they are longer than for normal road racing. Some offroad cars even use dedicated offroad gearboxes (see below), that have final drive and gear ratios tuned for offroad racing, which means final and gear ratios are shorter.
For off-road cars with custom gearboxes gear ratios need to be increased for best performance for road racing.
Gear Ratio Offset
Offroad Cars +0.20
Changed in Horizon 5 Off-road Cars with Off-road Gearbox
Some offroad cars even use dedicated stock off-road gearboxes, that have final drive and gear ratios tuned for off-road racing, which means final and gear ratios are shorter.
Off-road gearboxes require to decrease final drive and gear ratios for best performance for road racing.
Final Drive Offset Gear Ratio Offset
Offroad Cars -1.0 -0.20
Changed in Horizon 5 Cars with Drivetrain Swaps
Cars with an AWD or RWD drivetrain swap are now automatically equipped with a Standard 6-speed race gearbox. AWD swap gearboxes use shorter gearing than the Standard Forza race gearbox while RWD swap gearboxes use longer gearing than the Standard Forza race gearbox. Also when upgrading the transmission to 6-speed (only for RWD swaps), 7-speed, 8-speed, 9-speed or 10-speed race transmission the car is equipped with different gearing variants than the normal 6-speed, 7-speed, 8-speed, 9-speed or 10-speed race gearboxes.
AWD drivetrain swap gearboxes generally require lower final drive tuning than regular 6,- 7-, 8-, 9- or 10-speed race transmission while RWD drivetrain swap gearboxes require higher final drive gearing in some instances. Also for rally and off-road cars additionally gear ratios need to be increased / decreased in some instances.
AWD Swap Stock Gearbox
Final Drive Offset Gear Ratio Offset
Road Car -1.0 0.0
High Gearing Road Car -0.5 0.0
Low Gearing Road Car -1.0 0.0
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Road Car Custom -0.5 0.0
High Gearing Custom 0.0 0.0
Low Gearing Custom -1.0 0.0
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Rally Car -1.0 +0.20
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Offroad Car -1.5 0.0
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Offroad Car Custom -1.0 0.0
AWD Swap 7-,8-,9-,10-Speed Gearbox
Final Drive Offset Gear Ratio Offset
Road Car -1.0 0.0
High Gearing Road Car1 -0.5 0.0
Low Gearing Road Car2 0.0 0.0
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Road Car Custom 0.0 0.0
High Gearing Custom3 0.0 0.0
Low Gearing Custom4 -1.5 0.0
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rally Car -1.0 +0.20
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Offroad Car -0.5 0.0
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Offroad Car Custom -1.0 0.0
RWD Swap Stock Gearbox
Final Drive Offset Gear Ratio Offset
Road Car -0.5 0.0
High Gearing Road Car1 0.0 0.0
Low Gearing Road Car2 +1.0 0.0
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Road Car Custom +1.0 0.0
High Gearing Custom3 0.0 0.0
Low Gearing Custom4 0.0 0.0
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rally Car 0.0 -0.20
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Offroad Car -0.5 +0.20
High Gearing Offroad Car5 -0.5 +0.20
Low Gearing Offroad Car6 -1.0 +0.20
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Offroad Car Custom -0.5 +0.20
RWD Swap 7-,8-,9-,10-Speed Gearbox
Final Drive Offset Gear Ratio Offset
Road Car -0.5 0.0
High Gearing Road Car1 0.0 0.0
Low Gearing Road Car2 0.0 0.0
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Road Car Custom +1.0 0.0
High Gearing Custom3 0.0 0.0
Low Gearing Custom4 0.0 0.0
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rally Car 0.0 0.0
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Offroad Car -0.5 0.0
High Gearing Offroad Car5 -0.5 0.0
Low Gearing Offroad Car6 -1.5 0.0
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Offroad Car Custom 0.0 0.0
1 all road cars with Standard Forza race gearbox and a stock final drive > 3.75
2 all road cars with Standard Forza race gearbox and a stock final drive <= 3.75
3 all road cars with custom race gearbox and a stock final drive > 5.00
4 all road cars with custom race gearbox and a stock final drive <= 3.25
5 all off-road cars with Standard Forza race gearbox and a stock final drive > 5.00
6 all off-road cars with Standard Forza race gearbox and a stock final drive <= 3.00
New in Horizon 5 Cars with Off-road, Drift or Drag Chassis
Cars that are equipped with off-road, rally, off-road race, vintage rally, drift or drag tires require additional final drive adjustments.
Generally drag and off-road chassis require slightly higher final drive tuning while drift chassis require slightly lower final drive tuning for best performance.
Chassis Final Drive Offset
Drag -0.2
Off-road -0.1
Drift +0.1
Relevant Car Upgrades
Increasing or decreasing power via engine upgrades requires to adjust final drive to adjust the gearbox to the changed power band.
Also when performing a drivetrain swap as well as changing transmission, differential and front bumper or rear wing and even tire compound requires to adjust the final drive cars (see above).
Car Property Change Effect on Final Drive
Power Increase Decrease
Power Decrease Increase
Drivetrain Drivetrain Swap Increase/Decrease
Transmission Change Increase/Decrease
Differential Change Increase/Decrease1
Tire Compound Change Increase/Decrease2
Front Bumper Change Increase/Decrease
Rear Wing Change Increase/Decrease
1 only for road cars
2 only when changing cars chassis type
Aero
Aero tuning in Horizon is relatively easy as it depends only on the drivetrain and the cars power.
Changed in Horizon 5 As opposed to Horizon 4 there are no Standard race aero kits anymore, i.e. for each car there is a unique custom race aerokit available that offers an adjustable front and rear downforce range specific to that car.
Changed in Horizon 5 The general pattern on how to setup aero depending on installed drivetrain is relatively easy:
-
RWD: front min / rear max
-
FWD / AWD: front max / rear min
Low Power Cars
Changed in Horizon 5 Cars with low power (<400 hp) require an 15% reduced rear downforce for best performance:
-
RWD: front min / rear max * 0.85
-
FWD / AWD: front max / rear min
High Power Cars
Changed in Horizon 5 Cars with very high power (>=400 hp and >= 1.5*stock power) simply require to increase front or rear downforce by 1.5 for best performance:
-
RWD: front min * 1.5 / rear max
-
FWD / AWD: front max / rear min * 1.5
Extreme Power Cars
Changed in Horizon 5 Cars with extreme power ((>=400 hp and >= 2*stock power) simply require to double front or rear downforce for best performance:
-
RWD: front min * 2 / rear max
-
FWD / AWD: front max / rear min * 2
Relevant Car Upgrades
Increasing or decreasing power via engine upgrades requires to adjust downforce if the cars power crosses 200 hp, 400 hp or 800 hp mark.
Also when performing a drivetrain swap as well as changing transmission, differential and front bumper or rear wing and even tire compound requires to adjust the final drive cars (see above).
Car Property Change Effect on Downforce
Power Increase Increase if power crosses 200/400/800 hp mark
Power Decrease Decrease if power crosses 200/400/800 hp mark
Drivetrain RWD -> AWD Increase front downforce / Decrease rear downforce
Drivetrain AWD -> RWD Decrease front downforce / Increase rear downforce
Drivetrain FWD -> RWD Decrease front downforce / Increase rear downforce