This month’s update, the sixth, for Forza Motorsport is now available – 11th March 2024 – making notable upgrade-system changes.
Microsoft’s somewhat beleaguered racing platform, Forza Motorsport, is in reverse gear to try and appease its fanbase – starting with the latest patch, entitled ‘Update 6’.
Available today, 11th March 2024, on PC and Xbox Series X|S, the download includes new single-player events, cars to unlock, DLC and notable quality-of-life changes. Here is everything you need to know.
Instead of using earned in-game cash to unlock rewards, money was only used to buy more cars. No, performance-enhancing upgrades were unlocked through the combination of car points and an individual car level, increased by driving each model.
Therefore, several popular upgrades were locked until you drove each car for several hours.
The system has now been revised, supposedly based on player feedback, as detailed last month.
Now, you will have the option of equipping any part from level 1 onwards, provided you have the necessary car points. It will still be a grind to get to car level 50 and apply all upgrades, but at least there is the option of applying new parts in the order of your choosing.
Secondly, credits can now be used to purchase car points, again potentially helping unlock the more aggressive upgrades earlier – especially as the game has a habit of throwing new cars your way anyway.
The ratio set is 4,500 Credits for 500 Car Points.
Each week, another set of race events will be unlocked in the game in the ‘featured tour’ area.
The theme makes for a set of challenges based on the number of cylinders in the engines of the vehicles used: starting from four, and running up to 10.
Recently all four of these are new to this particular series entry, although this time only two cars are, the Alfa and the Lamborghini. The following four cars will be available in-game with a 30 per cent discount and used in each of the four elements of the Combustion Tour:
That’s two cars not in the game that will soon become available. But there are also more.
Complete all of the Combustion Tour events (reminder, each block of events unlocks a week at a time), and you will earn the:
This was bundled with the Deluxe and Premium editions of the game or can be purchased for $29.99/€29.99/£24.99 delivering 30 cars in total. Alternatively, each of the following new cars can be purchased individually for $2.99/€2.99/£2.49.
One of the following four cars releases each week, starting this week with the Nissan:
That is now set to change with today’s update – thank goodness – with the real-world exit, although, really, should it ever have been released that way to begin with?
Some big fixes are also said to have been implemented. These include updated VRAM usage estimates on PC, flicker from ‘wrongly sampled’ Ray Traced Ambient Occlusion and race-start AI behaviour. There are also further lighting options for the livery editor.
The full changelog is listed below. It is perhaps worth noting that AI performance and the Forza Race Regulations penalty system are set for further changes throughout 2024.
Stability [All Platforms]
Microsoft’s somewhat beleaguered racing platform, Forza Motorsport, is in reverse gear to try and appease its fanbase – starting with the latest patch, entitled ‘Update 6’.
Available today, 11th March 2024, on PC and Xbox Series X|S, the download includes new single-player events, cars to unlock, DLC and notable quality-of-life changes. Here is everything you need to know.
Overhauled Car Upgrade System
The way you would improve a car’s performance in this revitalised Forza Motorsport title was meant to be a differentiator. While unique, it also could be frustrating.Instead of using earned in-game cash to unlock rewards, money was only used to buy more cars. No, performance-enhancing upgrades were unlocked through the combination of car points and an individual car level, increased by driving each model.
Therefore, several popular upgrades were locked until you drove each car for several hours.
The system has now been revised, supposedly based on player feedback, as detailed last month.
Now, you will have the option of equipping any part from level 1 onwards, provided you have the necessary car points. It will still be a grind to get to car level 50 and apply all upgrades, but at least there is the option of applying new parts in the order of your choosing.
Secondly, credits can now be used to purchase car points, again potentially helping unlock the more aggressive upgrades earlier – especially as the game has a habit of throwing new cars your way anyway.
The ratio set is 4,500 Credits for 500 Car Points.
Combustion Tour
A new month, another set of single-player events has been added to Forza Motorsport. This time, the ‘Combustion Tour’.Each week, another set of race events will be unlocked in the game in the ‘featured tour’ area.
The theme makes for a set of challenges based on the number of cylinders in the engines of the vehicles used: starting from four, and running up to 10.
New-Old Cars
Added cars related to the featured tour are called ‘spotlights cars’ in Turn 10’s platform, and all have previously appeared in older Forza Motorsport games or Forza Horizon releases. Do not mention the expression ‘built from the ground up…’Recently all four of these are new to this particular series entry, although this time only two cars are, the Alfa and the Lamborghini. The following four cars will be available in-game with a 30 per cent discount and used in each of the four elements of the Combustion Tour:
- 2014 Alfa Romeo 4C: 14th March – 21st March (new to this FM)
- 2002 Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec II: 21st March – 28th March
- 1969 Dodge Charger R/T: 28th March – 4th April
- 2014 Lamborghini Huracán LP 610-4: 4th April – 11th April (new to this FM)
That’s two cars not in the game that will soon become available. But there are also more.
Complete all of the Combustion Tour events (reminder, each block of events unlocks a week at a time), and you will earn the:
- 2009 Pagani Zonda Cinque Roadster
- 2010 Ferrari 599XX
New-New Cars
If you are looking for new cars that are truly all-new, i.e. build afresh for this contemporary game, then you need the optional Car Pass DLC.This was bundled with the Deluxe and Premium editions of the game or can be purchased for $29.99/€29.99/£24.99 delivering 30 cars in total. Alternatively, each of the following new cars can be purchased individually for $2.99/€2.99/£2.49.
One of the following four cars releases each week, starting this week with the Nissan:
- 1983 Nissan #23 Nissan Motorsports Silvia Super Silhouette: 14th March
- 2019 Toyota 86 TRD SE: 21st March
- 2020 Lexus #14 VASSER SULLIVAN RC F GT3: 28th March
- 1986 Lotus #12 Team Lotus 98T: 4th April
Daytona Pitlane Changed
One frustrating element of January’s Update 4 was not the addition of Daytona per se, but that it used the same unrealistic pitlane exit as 2017’s Forza Motorsport 7. It would see you enter directly into the racing line heading into the opening corner, and not use the real-world route.That is now set to change with today’s update – thank goodness – with the real-world exit, although, really, should it ever have been released that way to begin with?
Further tweaks and events
As ever, there will be fresh featured (read, ranked) multiplayer playlists and ‘Rivals’ time trials.Some big fixes are also said to have been implemented. These include updated VRAM usage estimates on PC, flicker from ‘wrongly sampled’ Ray Traced Ambient Occlusion and race-start AI behaviour. There are also further lighting options for the livery editor.
The full changelog is listed below. It is perhaps worth noting that AI performance and the Forza Race Regulations penalty system are set for further changes throughout 2024.
New Track In April
April 2024’s Update 7 will include a new track for the game – although which exactly has not yet been unveiled.Forza Motorsport Update 6 Changelog
New Content, Features and Events [All Platforms]
Car Progression Changes- We have removed the level restriction on performance parts, making them all available at Car Level 1. This allows players to install parts in any order they wish.
- Players can use in-game Credits to acquire Car Points when exiting the upgrade screen at a ratio of 4,500 Credits for 500 Car Points. This change gives you a choice to immediately upgrade your car using Credits, or if you’re saving your Credits, you can earn Car Points for upgrades through car leveling as before.
- 8 new music tracks have been added to the game, composed by Kaveh Cohen and Michael Nielsen, and Peter Holmstrom, and these can be heard in the Homespace environment.
- Featured Tour: Combustion Tour (Available from March 13 4pm PT | March 14 12am UTC – April 24 4pm PT | April 25 12am UTC)
- 4 Cylinder Furies (Starts March 13 4pm PT | March 14 12am UTC)
- Super Sixes (Starts March 20 4pm PT | March 21 12am UTC)
- V8 Heritage (Starts March 27 4pm PT | March 28 12am UTC)
- V10 Titans (Starts April 3 4pm PT | April 4 12am UTC)
- Open Class Tour – Engine Cylinders (Available from March 13 4pm PT | March 14 12am UTC – April 10 4pm PT | April 11 12am UTC)
- C Class Series (6-Cylinder Opponents)
- B Class Series (4-Cylinder Opponents)
- A Class Series (8-Cylinder Opponents)
- S Class Series (12-Cylinder Opponents)
- Combustion Tour: 2009 Pagani Zonda Cinque Roadster
- Open Class Tour: 2010 Ferrari 599XX
- 2014 Alfa Romeo 4C (March 13 4pm PT | March 14 12am UTC – March 20 4pm PT | March 21 12am UTC)
- 2002 Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec II (March 20 4pm PT | March 21 12am UTC – March 27 4pm PT | March 28 12am UTC)
- 1969 Dodge Charger R|T (March 27 4pm PT | March 28 12am UTC – April 3 4pm PT | April 4 12am UTC)
- 2014 Lamborghini Huracán LP 610-4 (April 3 4pm PT | April 4 12am UTC – April 10 4pm PT | April 11 12am UTC)
- 1983 Nissan #23 Nissan Motorsports Silvia Super Silhouette (March 13 4pm PT | March 14 12am UTC)
- 2019 Toyota 86 TRD SE (March 20 4pm PT | March 21 12am UTC)
- 2020 Lexus #14 VASSER SULLIVAN RC F GT3 (March 27 4pm PT | March 28 12am UTC)
- 1986 Lotus #12 Team Lotus 98T (April 3 4pm PT | April 4 12am UTC)
New Multiplayer Events
Spec Series- BMW M3 Spec Series (March 13 4pm PT | March 14 12am UTC – March 20 4pm PT | March 21 12am UTC)
- Forza P2 Series (March 20 4pm PT | March 21 12am UTC – March 27 4pm PT | March 28 12am UTC)
- Vintage Le Mans Prototype Series (March 27 4pm PT | March 28 12am UTC – April 3 4pm PT | April 4 12am UTC)
- Early LMP Series (April 3 4pm PT | April 4 12am UTC – April 10 4pm PT | April 11 12am UTC)
- 4 Cylinder Series (A Class) and D Class Series (March 13 4pm PT | March 14 12am UTC – March 20 4pm PT | March 21 12am UTC)
- 6 Cylinder Series (S Class) and B Class Series (March 20 4pm PT | March 21 12am UTC – March 27 4pm PT | March 28 12am UTC)
- 8 Cylinder Series (A Class) and C Class Series (March 27 4pm PT | March 28 12am UTC – April 3 4pm PT | April 4 12am UTC)
- 12 Cylinder Series (S Class) and E Class Series (April 3 4pm PT | April 4 12am UTC – April 10 4pm PT | April 11 12am UTC)
- 2014 Alfa Romeo 4C (March 13 4pm PT | March 14 12am UTC – March 20 4pm PT | March 21 12am UTC)
- 2002 Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec II (March 20 4pm PT | March 21 12am UTC – March 27 4pm PT | March 28 12am UTC)
- 1969 Dodge Charger R|T (March 27 4pm PT | March 28 12am UTC – April 3 4pm PT | April 4 12am UTC)
- 2014 Lamborghini Huracán LP 610-4 (April 3 4pm PT | April 4 12am UTC – April 10 4pm PT | April 11 12am UTC)
- Spec Division: Forza GT – Any Forza GT Division Car – Silverstone GP Circuit (March 13 4pm PT | March 14 12am UTC – April 10 4pm PT | April 11 12am UTC)
- VIP: Daytona Drizzle – 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Coupe Forza Edition – Daytona Sports Car Circuit (March 13 4pm PT | March 14 12am UTC – April 10 4pm PT | April 11 12am UTC)
- Spotlight – 2014 Alfa Romeo 4C – Yas Marina North Corkscrew (March 13 4pm PT | March 14 12am UTC – March 20 4pm PT | March 21 12am UTC)
- Spotlight – 2002 Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec II – Suzuka East (March 20 4pm PT | March 21 12am UTC – March 27 4pm PT | March 28 12am UTC)
- Spotlight – 1969 Dodge Charger R|T – Eaglerock Speedway Oval (March 27 4pm PT | March 28 12am UTC – April 3 4pm PT | April 4 12am UTC)
- Spotlight – 2014 Lamborghini Huracán LP 610-4 – Catalunya National Circuit Alt (April 3 4pm PT | April 4 12am UTC – April 10 4pm PT | April 11 12am UTC
Bug Fixes and Improvements
The team is constantly hard at work on bugs, some of which are not immediately visible to players but are critical for game stability for all players.Stability [All Platforms]
- Fixed a crash when entering Private Multiplayer lobbies. [1711214, 1712940, 1692800]
- Fixed a crash when selecting Practice during a Prototype Group Racing Series event. [1709839]
- Fixed a hard lock when transitioning from Race Results to Race Rewards after a race has been completed. [1709973]
- Fixed a crash when matchmaking into in Featured Multiplayer events. [1702988]
- Fixed a crash when returning to Car Select in the Design & Paint menu after downloading a livery. [1667974]
- Fixed a crash that occurs after idling for an extended period in a Featured Multiplayer event. [1685682]
- VRAM usage estimates for many settings were made to be more accurate. [1593495]
- Fixed an issue where the Names Over Cars panels were not correctly aligned while using ultrawide resolutions. [1637743]
- Improved Drivatar AI behaviors at the beginning of races to reduce mid-field collisions and breakaway drivers at race start through Turn 1. [1728001, 1663637]
- Fixed numerous issues related to populating Drivatars in Free Play Multi-Class event setup. [1554823]
- Fixed an issue where AI drove erratically and sometimes left the track after resuming from Rewind. [1711812]
- Added notifications for relevant AI penalties. [1700663]
- Increased accuracy in assigning fault to sideswipes. [1692509]
- 2021 Audi RS 6 Avant: Fixed an issue where blinkers on mirrors are always turned on when daylight lights are turned on. [1639368]
- 2021 BMW M4 Competition Coupé: Fixed an issue where the remove wing option does not remove the rear wing. [1642097]
- 2021 BMW M4 Competition Coupé: Fixed an issue where the inner part of the trunk taillights does not turn on. [1651553]
- 2015 BMW i8: Fixed an issue where the track is visible through the hood after applying an aftermarket Street hood . [1664878]
- 1995 Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1: Fixed an issue where rain droplets are visible on the car’s gauges. [1659320]
- 1992 Honda NSX-R: Fixed an issue where the backfire appears in the middle of the bumper instead of the exhausts after applying the aftermarket Race rear bumper. [1640544]
- 1988 Lamborghini Countach LP5000 QV: Fixed an issue where the rear lights do not turn on during night and rain races. [1646578]
- 2010 Lexus LFA: Fixed an issue where visible gaps appear in the driver’s door in cockpit camera. [1642169]
- 1990 Mazda Savanna RX-7: Fixed an issue where the car driver and passenger seats did not have the same color as the real car. [1639648]
- 1990 Mazda Savanna RX-7: Fixed an issue that caused the car to clip beneath the track when the rear ride height is set at the lowest setting. [1640548]
- 2020 McLaren GT: Fixed an issue where the track can be seen through two speakers in both bottom corners of the windshield when using the driver or dashboard cockpit views. [1657776]
- 2002 Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec II: Fixed an issue where the manufacturer logo changes color after installing aftermarket front bumpers. [1642095]
- 1967 Nissan R380 II: Fixed an issue where the shifting animation is missing. [1640448]
- 2007 Porsche 911 GT3: Fixed an issue where the hood is missing when in hood camera view. [1639472]
- 2019 SUBARU STI S209 Forza Edition: Fixed an issue where side mirrors are missing when viewed in the dash camera view. [1646466]
- 2016 Vauxhall Corsa VXR: Fixed an issue where the rear-view mirror is not centered in the middle of the windshield. [1654463]
- Daytona International Speedway Pitlane Exit Update – Cars exiting the pitlane of the Sports Car Circuit will now follow the full length of the pitlane and enter the track between turn 2 and turn 3. A barrier has been added on the inside of turn 1 to prevent corner cutting through the pitlane. [1689370]
- Known Issue: Currently players are prevented from regaining control of their car at the intended location, causing them to re-enter the track under AI control when Pitting Assist is toggled off. The team is investigating a solution to this issue.
- Fixed an issue preventing the creation of multi-class races in Private Multiplayer. [1716082]
- Fixed time penalties sometimes not displaying correctly in Practice during Featured Multiplayer races. [1691900]
- Fixed players incorrectly getting a popup saying, “Setup Change Required” in Private Multiplayer when Allow Tuning is set to “Stock”. [1671360]
- Fixed a file size limit issue for event replays where players were prevented from saving replays which included a full grid of drivers over longer event sessions. [1655835]
- Fixed an issue where car select would not present eligible cars correctly when going from one race to another in Featured Multiplayer. [1659827]
- Removed pitting exploit on numerous track layouts that allowed players to cut seconds off their pitstop duration by timing their selections for when the car slows down. [1634997]
- Fixed an issue where a disqualification notification would show up in a new FMP race after being disqualified in a previous race. [1657829]
- Rewind Improvements: Rewind is now available to use at race start and after one or more Drivatar AI crosses the finish line before the player. [1577801, 1269413]
- Fixed an issue where excessive fuel lap amounts were by default in various game modes. [1612352]
- Fixed an issue in the Career mode pre-race menu where no menu item was initially selected after skipping practice from this menu. [1694721]
- Changed the Mini Leaderboard to show the Best Lap of racers when the Compare Best Lap scoring rule is selected. [1589836]
- Known Issue: Mini Leaderboard is not actively updating positions in race when weather is set to Variable. [1729125]
- Known Issue: When a player starts a Private Multiplayer event and then quickly cancels the launch countdown, they are unable to restart the race and must create a new lobby. [1729178]
- Known Issue: In Private Multiplayer, the player’s car is placed on track in pre-lobby menu after changing race type from Meet-Up to Circuit. [1729190]
- Added multiple Lighting Options to the Livery Editor menus to help players see how their designs look in different conditions. Desired lighting selection will be saved upon return. [1688546]
- Fixed a bug where the Personal Colors icon did not function when selected within the Design & Paint menu. [1715931]
- Fixed an issue where liveries could not be saved if an earlier save failed because the player’s garage was full. [1689394]
- Fixed an issue where the Livery Editor’s “Color Fine Tune” incorrectly allowed normal colors to be edited as “Color 1” and “Color 2”. [1695649]
- Removed “Uses” from shared Vinyl Groups information as only “Downloads” and “Likes” are counted for Vinyl Groups. [1588356]
- Fixed an issue where layer masks weren’t being displayed properly in Vinyl Group thumbnails. [1679234]
- Updated the Find Designs UI in the Livery Editor to display the Layer statistic. [1536113]
- Removed the term “Max Layers” from the Photo Gallery info panel when viewing other players’ media. [1454338]
- Fixed tunes sometimes not loading when finding community tunes or scrolling too quickly. [1679233]
- Fixed an issue where the windshield wipers would not work in replays. [1686876]
- Added additional accessibility screen narration to the Livery Editor and Paint Shop menus. [1716455]
- The ‘Livery Stats’ & ‘Painter’s Log’ info panels in My Vinyl Groups, My Designs & Find Designs menus in Design & Paint are now narrated. [1552349]
- Livery Position Select in Livery Editor is now narrated. [1691876]
- Create Vinyl Group scene is now narrated. [1448534]
- Fixed an issue where some shift lights on Logitech steering wheels would illuminate when the game was launched. [1693348]
- Fixed an issue where LEDs on Fanatec steering wheels were blinking with the incorrect colors and at the wrong rate. [1695357]
- Fixed some issues with Global Illumination flickering in the game. [1689182]
- Fixed an issue where cars wrongly sampled Ray Traced Ambient Occlusion leading to flicker. [1689343]
- Fixed several graphics issues when switching quality modes in setting’s menu on Xbox Series X|S consoles. [1701264, 1708278]
- Fixed a graphical issue where the screen would flash white when in-game thumbnails updated. [1612375]