How To Drift In Forza Horizon 5

We dive into the best cars, setups, and tips and tricks as we teach you how to master the art of drifting in Forza Horizon 5.

how to drift in forza horizon 5

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Introduction

Forza Horizon 5, with over 20 million registered players, remains the hottest racing game out there right now.

Having raised the bar for open-world racing games to the highest it’s ever been, FH5 features a much bigger map and many improvements over its predecessor.

Not only this but Turn 10 has also opened up the doors of customization for more detailed builds.

Forza Horizon 5 has seen many additional features compared to the previous game. These include new expeditions, a vast, stunning map of beautiful Mexico, and a handful of impressive customizations for every vehicle.

The Forza series has always been excellent at delivering the experience of drifting in its simplest form, focusing less on realistic physics, and more on entertaining action.

If you want to learn how to Drift in Forza Horizon 5, you’ve come to the right place.

In this article, we will introduce drifting tricks and tips, how to tune your car for drifting, and most importantly, we will introduce the best cars for drifting in FH5.

How To Drift In Forza Horizon 5 – Best Tips And Tricks

Here we’ll share some of the best Forza Horizon 5 tips and tricks to help you have more fun and help you earn as quickly as possible in the game.

When it comes to drifting, Forza Horizon 5 comes with a handful of fun challenges, from story modes to dedicated areas on the map for drifting, also known as the drifting zones.

There are many practices you can do to help your skills grow. And bear in mind that you do not need to have the 1500hp GTR to begin building your skills.

You can start nice and slow and gradually build your car as you progress.

One of the practices that helps a lot with drifting is doing donuts – this will teach you the basics.

There is a story mode for drifting in Forza Horizon 5 similar to what we had in the previous game. By unlocking a storyline, you’ll get to do missions giving you plenty of points and impressive cars.

The drifting story mode consists of six different missions. In these missions, you will challenge your drifting skills by using the most iconic cars of the drifting scene, like the Toyota AE86 or Nissan Skyline.

Another sidequest of Forza Horizon 5 is the drift zones, which are designated parts of some roads that will allow you to acquire more drift points and combos.

All you have to do is drift through the road’s curves to earn the biggest combos.

When you drive correctly and skillfully, you earn skills in the game that will help you build the skill chain and gain more XPs and other perks.

Once you’ve purchased a pre-built drift-spec car or just spent your hard-earned XPs to build one, you can achieve the ultimate drift skills in the game, helping you to earn even more XP.

Forza Horizon 5 Drift Settings

The default settings of Forza Horizon 5 will not allow you to perform drifting to the best of the game’s abilities.

Opting for the standard settings will make every car feel as though you’re attempting to drift a stock automatic SUV, as funny as it may sound.

For drifting, you might want to tweak the settings a little bit. So let’s go through each of these difficulty settings together now.

First off, we recommend opting for a rear wheel drive car.

If you’d prefer to go for an AWD platform, we advise changing the drivetrain setup in the tuning menu to get the most out of your drifting experience.

ABS

The best braking system setting for drifting is to turn the ABS off.

Most of the time, the initiation of drifting starts with the e-brake.

Having ABS turned on only makes the car more unpredictable, which is against the principles of drifting.

Steering

In the default settings, the steering is set to ‘Normal.’ While this is often better for controller players, many advanced wheel and pedal gamers prefer simulation. If this is something you’re interested in, make sure you check out this video:

Normal will smooth out the inputs, making them simpler and more predictable.

Simulation gives you complete control, but due to the limitations of a controller, this will prove challenging.

You can learn how to master drifting with a controller with this video:

Traction Control

Traction control is a system in the car that doesn’t allow the rear wheels to spin, which is the primary goal of RWD drifting.

So, no matter how much horsepower your car has, using TC won’t allow you to slide sideways, so always ensure that this is off before you begin drifting.

If not, we guarantee it’ll become highly frustrating!

Stability control

Ironically, anything related to stability and control is against the principles of drifting.

It might not be recommended for daily driving, but it’s a game we’re talking about here. Everybody’s safe. So, keep the stability control off as well.

Shifting

In drifting, it’s critical to make the most of the acceleration and also be able to control your car’s engine revs, so you should always select Manual, even if it sounds a little daunting at the beginning.

If you get used to manually switching gears from the start, this will help you reap the rewards later when you get more talented at drifting.

In vehicles with Automatic shifting, you cannot fully control the engine revs, which isn’t ideal for drifting.

Instead, you want complete control over the chosen gear, allowing you to stay as long as desired and to bounce off the limiter if necessary. For this reason, we always recommend opting for Manual shifting.

The Best Drift Cars In Forza Horizon 5

It’s essential to consider certain things when choosing a car for drifting in Forza Horizon 5.

While it’s common to want to pick the fastest cars in the game, it’s best to keep things simple to get started.

First, the car you choose is preferred to be a rear-wheel-drive car — ideally, something with lots and lots of horsepower in stock form or with upgrade potential.

Even rear-wheel-drive cars that don’t look too impressive can be turned into tire-slaying drift weapons if you’re willing to splash your credits.

For example, going for something like the Ford Mustang RTR is a much better choice than jumping straight into the Hoonigan Ford Drift Truck to get started.

Here are just a few of our favorite cars that can be found in the Autoshow which are best for drifting in Forza Horizon 5:

Nissan Silvia

One of the most beginner-friendly drift cars in the game; cheap but with massive space for upgrades while providing the ultimate JDM vibes.

The Nissan Silvia (also known as the 240SX) is an excellent choice for anybody drifting in Forza, from beginner to pro.

With a small, yet tuner-friendly engine that produces enough horsepower to make this lightweight car slide sideways, we can guarantee that it’ll provide a fantastic drift experience.

Mazda RX-7

As well as being iconic and impressive-looking, the RX-7 is all you could want in a drift car. A massive advantage is having a lightweight chassis and an insane rotary engine under the hood.

You can just go full throttle and chuck it in a corner. Even if you’re an 80-year-old grandma, you’ll likely look like a drifting hero.

Jokes aside, it is essential for the car to be lightweight for drifting. Therefore, we highly recommend maximum weight reduction when tuning if you’re eager to use a heavier car.

Now add the potential to go beyond 1,000 horsepower to the equation, and you have the perfect combination for a drift car.

If you’re just getting started, the RX-7’s lower-powered brother, the Mazda Miata, is another popular choice among drifters.

Formula Drift Cars

The officially licensed cars in this expansion pack are perfect for drifting right out of the Showroom.

These provide the ideal opportunity to get behind the wheel of the ultimate cars from the Formula Drift competition, arguably the most impressive series worldwide.

How To Tune A Drift Car In Forza Horizon 5

We all know that the best drifting experience closely relates to the best modifications.

This is the reason why you add enough horsepower to a lightweight car, so you can give the vehicle the ability to slide across the asphalt as if it was made from ice - well, very grippy ice!

Drift tunes are a personal preference, so you can either go crazy and add 2,000 horsepower to your car and hope for the best or create the ultimate setup with our Forza Horizon 5 Tuning Guide.

On top of that, FH5 allows you to share and download tunes that other gamers have created. So, for example, you can search for the highest-rated or most popular community-shared drift tunes and download them.

You can also share your tunes and builds with other people.

But there are some essential tunes and tweaks that you should consider. So, we’ll mention them here.

Tuning The Engine

Having your engine upgraded is very important, of course. As you probably guessed – more horsepower also means more sideways potential and more smoke!

We recommend starting with simple upgrades, such as bolt-on mods like an exhaust, and refining your drifting skills before you go all-out with maximum power upgrades.

While huge smoke clouds are always exciting, controlling all that power under the hood comes with experience, and to get you started, some basic essential upgrades will be plenty.

Brakes & Suspension

When you have more power, you need more of whatever lets you handle and control these gains.

Upgrading your brakes, chassis, and handling will ensure the best control of your drift car, making it the perfect way to earn more XP and show off your skills to your friends.

Likewise, upgrading your dampers will allow you to adjust your suspension setup, which will prove vital, allowing you to fine-tweak aspects of your suspension such as toe, camber, and caster.

Tires & Wheels

Tire grip is essential for your drift car, so wide tires will always be perfect for your insanely high-horsepower builds.

Less grip means you’ll struggle to get traction, potentially making your car impossible to handle in sharp turns.

Too much grip in a low-powered drift car will leave you struggling to spin up the rear wheels and clinging to the road.

For these reasons, we recommend going with wide tires for a high-powered drift car and skinnier tires for a lower-powered car.

Aerodynamics & Looks

Forza Horizon 5 body kits and all sorts of attachments to your vehicle can improve the aerodynamics, allowing you to stick to the ground better and control your car easier.

However, it’s worth noting that this isn’t as critical as in a race car due to the lower speeds that come with drifting.

We typically enjoy going for the wildest style imaginable for each of our cars! Make looks your top priority, and don’t worry too much about aerodynamics.

After all, we will be spending most of our time sideways!

Learn How To Master Advanced Drifting Techniques

Many pro drifters learn and practice their skills through sim training.

It is super expensive to use real-life drift cars all the time, and simulating the experience can be had for a fraction of the price.

Many people learn how to drift from the comfort of their gaming rigs. By this principle, we can use real-life drifting pros’ techniques to be at the top of their game.

Here are some techniques used to maximize your drifting potential.

Power-over

You usually need a moderate amount of throttle, but with this technique, you have to use much more throttle to create more oversteer.

As you initiate into the corner, you’ll need to be confident with flooring the throttle before controlling it through the turn.

Be careful, as too much power could potentially leave you spinning out. Be careful, as too much power could leave you spinning out. It’s all about finding the optimal point on the throttle.

Handbrake While Drifting

Primarily, the e-brake is typically used for the initiation of the drift. Still, you can consider using short bursts of the e-brake to maintain your speed and continue drifting.

However, be warned - this is likely to frustrate cars behind you in a tandem situation.

The Manji/Choku Dori

This technique is simply drifting your car from left to right on a straight, without the need for a corner or sharp turn.

Where you’ve not got any corners to drift around, manji drifting allows you to earn maximum points on a straight road by utilizing the space at your disposal.

Conclusion

Forza Horizon 5 undoubtedly provides the best drifting experience in the Horizon series, and the streets of Mexico provide the perfect location for showing off your skills.

By upgrading the vast selection of cars within the game and your new-found drifting abilities, you’ll be topping the leaderboards and earning enough credits to unlock your dream drift cars in no time.

If you’re not able to get to your console or gaming rig right now, we recommend checking out our extensive catalog of free online drifting games.

The Drifted-exclusive Drift Hunters MAX game has proven to be a fan favorite and can be enjoyed entirely free on your Chromebook or laptop, whether at home, school, or work.

Practicing your drifting skills whenever you get some spare time will undoubtedly see you master the art of drifting in no time.

Written by Nara The three things I love most are games, cars, and content creation. I've enjoyed sharing knowledge of my passions with fellow enthusiasts for over five years.