Forza Horizon 5 Set For Stadium Drift Area, Five New Cars, In Lunar New Year Update

The free update content will sit alongside a China-themed four-car DLC pack when the latest Festival Playlist arrives 1st February.

Images: Microsoft

Celebrating the Lunar New Year, Forza Horizon 5’s next Festival Playlist will add fresh challenges, new cars and a stadium drift arena.

The extensive support follows on from a quiet January, which was filled with rewards repurposed from prior Horizon titles. It marks the return of all-new content, over two years since its launch and during a time when sibling Forza Motorsport appears to be struggling for traction.

Stadium Drift Area​

The existing Horizon Stadium in Mexico will be given a Lunar New Year and drifting combination refresh during the next month.

That includes red drones, paper lanterns and giant dragon installations. There’s also a second dragon in the sky, made from illuminated drones. Pretty, but the main element is a giant sideways-focused circuit painted on the ground – ideal for meeting up with some Nissan Z-equipped friends online.

There are also small bundles of fireworks placed in the circuit which explode upon impact. Nine of these items will make it into the Event Lab customisation toolset.

Festival Playlist New Vehicles​

As per usual, there will be four seasons of new in-game challenges spread across four weeks. Should you complete enough tasks to earn points, these can be used to purchase set vehicles for a set period of time.

Some of these cars are all-new to the series and there are six of such this coming month:

• Hyundai Kona N ‘22 – Summer Wet Season – 20 pts
• Lynk & Co 02 HB ‘22 – Autumn Storm Season – 20 pts
• Hyundai i30N ‘20 – Winter Dry Season – 20 pts
• MG MG7 – Spring Hot Season – 20 pts

The two Hyundai’s are both powered by brawny 2-litre turbocharged engines, found in the existing Veloster N. The MG7, meanwhile, is a middle-of-the-road Chinese saloon, and the Lynk & Co fits in with its 03 saloon sibling as a hatch variant.



The Hyundai N cars are rapid and raucous, but the MG and Lynk & Co are rather uninspired. It seems the cool MG has been saved for paid DLC…


The fifth car is an overall series reward:

• Hyundai IONIQ 6 ‘22 – 80 pts

This is a sleek electric saloon. The Lunar New Year is celebrated by multiple cultures, including China and Korea, hence the car list is purportedly themed around these two nations.

Community Autoshow picks​

Recently, Forza Horizon 5 players voted for rare cars to be available in the Autoshow – usually save for Festival Playlist, auction house and wheelspin antics.

The ten cars below will return to the autoshow and be available from 30th January 2024:

• 1990 Porsche 911 Reimagined by Singer
• 2010 Aston Martin One-77
• 2021 Lamborghini Sian Roadster
• 2021 Rimac Nevera
• 2010 Ferrari 599XX
• 1971 Porsche #23 917/20
• 1962 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Lusso1990
• 1967 Ferrari #24 Ferrari Spa 330 P4
• 2018 Italdesign Zerouno
• 1965 Peel Trident

The three cars below are previously available in the game as rewards, but also now debut in the autoshow:

• 2019 Hyundai Veloster N
• 2020 Xpeng P7
• 2021 Lynk & Co 03

European Automotive Hits End of February​

Following the Lunar New Year Festival Playlist will be one entitled ‘European Automotive’ which is also set to include yet more new cars.


The free game update will arrive 30th January 2024 for Forza Horizon 5 players, with the new challenges kicking off 1st February.

It’s also worth bearing in mind there will be a new paid-for DLC set, the Chinese Lucky Stars Pack which includes four further Chinese-themed cars.

Let us know your theories as to which European cars may arrive next time in the comments below, or on Twitter @OverTake_gg.