My best Forza Horizon 3 builds #forzatography - warning - there's a lot of them

I own a lot of cars in this game. 254, to be exact, and that’s after selling a bunch at the auction. Strangely enough I like keeping many of my cars stock (rare, I know), but I love a good modify too, though I tend to skip the whole stick-a-twin-turbo-V12-with-AWD-in-it-and-be-done-with-it insanity phase and i keep them a little more realistic. So here’s 24 of my cars you might find interesting

#blogpost

Toyota Celica GT-FOUR RC ST185 | WRC safari replica | S1 803

This is self explanatory- I took a Celica GT-FOUR and, with the inclusion of a period livery, tried to get the specs as close to Carlos Sainz’s ‘92 WRC car. From the stock engine power is up to 300hp and torque 371 nm, although the rally car makes over 400 nm, because the heavily modded engine is then restricted. Weight is down as low as I could get; 1.206 tonnes, but the WRC car is more like 1.130. I don’t think the safari bits help…

Fiat 124 Spider | turbo toy | A 713

A lot of my cars I build not for racing or competitive-ness, but purely for fun. This is one- a 300hp, sub-tonne hoonigan. Chassis and gearbox modifications are minimal, to give a natural,playful, road biased feel. Oh, and on the original carburetted 4cyl there is a turbo, for maximum skidz. Equip 01 alloys, and matte black hood and trunk finish off the Abarth look

Audi R8 V10 Plus | 'Ultraleggera' | S1 899

Audi never really built a lightweight 1st gen R8. Sure there was the GT, but that had only around 70kg removed, not massive when stock it weighed like 1.6 tonnes, and there was certainly no RWD option. So I built one.

I took a Lotus approach to weight reduction, ditching AWD, race weight reduction, and fitting lightweight engine components such as a race exhaust and intake system to the N/A V10. This pushed the power up to 580hp, and the weight is down to 1.226 tonnes, nearly as light as the Celica. It drive much nicer and is much more fun and responsive, though the snap oversteer is something to work on…

Nissan Skyline GT-R R32 | JTCC Replica | S1 900

Australia is known for its touring car scene being dominated by the Skyline GT-R R32, so when the game released, I knew I had to make one. Though I struggled to find true specs, so instead I built a super-competitive class S1 weapon.

Even still I think the specs aren’t far off- 616hp and an equal amount of torque from the RB26, stock engine displacement, full race chassis and gearbox mods and weiging in a 1.237 tonnes. Because at the time I couldn’t find one I like, I created my own Calsonic livery from the JTCC using online decals.

Chevrolet Impala SS 409 | lowrider | C 578

Low-riders are under appreciated on Forza and aren’t common. Thusly, because Iove being different, I went and made one. All that was required was race springs, a set of whopping 21 inch DUB Presidentials on the stock whitewall tires and my own “Dollar Green” metal flake paint.

Whats great about the race springs on the Impala is that the ride height can be adjusted individually, between 8 and 27 cm, so you can have the ass on the floor and the front way up high!

Subaru BRZ | Impreza STI swap | S1 838

I had already done a flat six TT widebody swap with a GT86 so for the BRZ I went for something more realistic and road-biased. The engine from the 2015 Impreza WRX STI now sends power to the rear wheels, to create the BRZ STI there never was.

But I went a bit further- the engine now pushes 510hp and a massive 629nm of torque, burning rubber in nearly every gear courtesy of a set of Enkei NT03+M’s on sport tires. A full INGS bodykit complements the aggresive and playful behaviour of this car. Oh, and it weighs just 1,067kgs, and will do just over 200mph

Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo | goliath dominator | S2 997

Here’s one of the fastest cars in my garage. To create this beast, all restrictors were removed, increasing power from 500hp to 955hp without turbos. All tires are widened to over 300mm, and 0-60 takes just 2.9 seconds and goes onto a top speed of 229 mph (eventually). And even though it’s still (!) RWD, it’ll take the majority of corners on Goliath flat with little difficulty or talent needed (thanks aero)

Alfa Romeo Giuilia Sprint GTA Stradale | 270hp 60's racer | A 730

As fast as it is pretty. A few classic-inspired race mods push the period 1.6 Alfa Giulia to 270 hp and 300nm. This may not sound much, but couple that with a stiffened body, sport tires on Rotiform vintage wheels and a total weight of just 653kg and it goes like the clappers.

I kept much of the chassis mods relatively soft to keep that bouncy but responsive and feel-dripping ride that the Giulia is known for. It’s a whole lot of fun.

BMW M3 E46 | widebody all-rounder | S1 876

It grips, it drifts, it’s rapid, looks great, sounds great… It’s my E46. It’s never been in a horizon game before and I’ve been missing it. To give it that show-car look I fitted the liberty-walk widebody, Horizon race tires, carbon-ified wing and mirrors, and a big black set of HRE 940RL’s.

Most chassis mods are street biased except the springs to keep things realistic, and the I6 motor is turbocharged to produce 630hp and 637nm, while it weighs 1,444kgs.

Holden Torana A9X | Hardie's Group C replica | A 761

As you can probably tell by now, I like my replicas. And I like my Aussie touring cars. So this one kinda made sense. Borrowing Hardie’s Bathurst 1000 livery borrowed form the store, I built a car felt was as close to the original as possible. 387hp, 612nm, 1,127kgs, sport tires with ATS Classic wheels.

Race chassis mods all round, but in Tuning I softened everything up to keep that period-correct squirming on the exit of corners

Landrover Defender 90 | Coastguard weapon | S1 868

Remember how I said I skip the insanity phase? You can forget that here. Out comes the Rover V8 and in goes an AMG V8 bored to 6.5 litres with two turbos strapped on to produce 1,005hp and 1,166nm of torque, and still only weighing 1.5 tonnes thanks to race mods all over.

I needed a car to cross the map fast, and I got one. Also very handy in playground games, so I put on a coastguard livery from the store to give it a bit of visual spice.

Mercedes-Benz 280SL | Resto-mod | A 766

Although it was a very nice car, the 280 SL never really lived up to 300 SL’s motorsport heritage; it was more of a GT ‘roadster’. So I decided to put a little motorsport magic back into the SL with this restomod-style build. The straight six is swapped out in favour of a modern 6.2 litre AMG engine (keep things in the family), producing an untouched 510hp and 620nm.

Bumpers were removed for a clean, racecar look, and black HRE Vintage 501’s and roll bar add to the retro vibe. As not to make it too extreme, most chassis mods were sport mods and the with the exception of a new diff the drivetrain is untouched. Probably one of my coolest machines

Volvo 850R | superwagon | S1 818

Everyone loves a fast wagon, and especially one that is a) A Volvo and b) modified. So here you go. The engine is the same 5cyl turbo, but with full race mods it now produces 574hp and 617nm. The drivetrain however , has been converted to RWD and now weighs 1,473kgs, making for epic skidz- and 200mph+. Oh, and it has 50/50 weight distribution!

I’ve given the exterior a subdued look, the paint is a metal flake colour that Top Gear might call “Skoda Green”. The rims sit on race springs and are steel-brushed HRE C103’s. I also put on Volvo ‘moose shields’ for good measure

Nissan Silvia Spec-R HE | Top Secret D1GP replica | S1 849

Another day, another replica, this time the famous Top Secret Silvia. This car started out as a Horizon Edition, so I actually had to swap the RB26 out in favour of the stock SR20. The specs are pretty accurate- 526hp, 501nm, displacement up to 2.2 litres, race chassis and drivetrain mods, an extensive setup tune and weighing in at 1,177kgs.

The bodykit is a full Top Secret one (it’s where I got the idea from), except for the wing which is a TRIAL autosports wing, as there was no high-level, carbon Top Secret wing. The rims are Tenzo R RS-5’s, which aren’t the same but look very similar. And hats off to the guy who made the livery, can’t remember their username but i found them on CT, they did a very good job.

Mazda MX-5 mk4 | offroad toy | S1 883

The answer is always Miata. Always, even for building offroad playthings. In fact I believe the engine in the Alumicraft Class 10 is a Skyactive Mazda motor. Anyway, the idea for this build goes back to Horizon 2, where I turned a Mk1 Miata into an AWD, VTEC turbo buggy, which was one of my favourite cars ever. So in this game I tried to recreate it with the latest MX-5.

Sadly, there’s no VTEC option for the MK4, so I started with the 1.6 rally engine. It was very responsive and rapid, but being only a 1.6 it didn’t have the ‘punch’ of the VTEC I was looking for, so I put the stock Skyactive motor back in and modded it to high hell. The now 2.4 litre turbocharged engine puts out 410hp and 474nm, whilst weighing just under 1 tonne. The weight distribution is ruined thanks to the AWD, but it now gets cross-country very quickly- 0-60 takes just 3.1 seconds. The chassis is either all race or offroad mods, the wheels are O.Z Superleggera’s and to hark back to Horizon 2 I painted it the same blue as the MK1 Miata.

BMW M5 E28 | 2JZ sleeper | S1 884

One of my great guilty pleasures is those 2JZ sleepers that 1320 Video films doing fly-bys somewhere in Texas, so I made my own. The exterior is unassuming; business-like grey with a lovely set of M1-inspired Rotiform BMI wheels, lowered on race springs.

Though under the hood lies a 3.4 litre single-turbo 2JZ kicking out 1,005hp and 1,134nm. Had I blessed it with AWD it would’ve been handy at the airfield, but to keep things realistic (and much more fun) I kept it RWD

Volvo 123 GT | vintage hoon | A 765

When I built this at first I was just messing around, but what I actually created was genius. I needed an all-roads kind of car that was RWD; a hoonigan. In went a turbocharged E36 M3 straight-six and a whole host of offroad mods, such as springs and tyres. Apart from the removal of bumpers to improve ground clearance I left the exterior unchanged to keep the cool vintage looks.

The principle was simple, the outcome, hilarious. This beast spins its wheels on any surface, in any direction, whilst being very capable. It’s a handful but very controllable if you’re on the ball.Keeping the car period correct with limited chassis and drivetrain mods only increases the appeal

Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500 | Group A replica | S1 835

Including Holden and Ford Supercars I own, I basically have a car for every era of Australian touring cars. And this is the final piece, the dominant turbo cossie. The engine remains remains relatively untouched; it makes 311hp and 367nm but chassis mods are extensive. It weighs just over a tonne, wear widened slicks and nearly everything is race-spec. It has massive amounts of grip and balance making it untouchable in the corners. HRE Vintage 501’s are the closest things to the classic BBS LM in this game.

Lexus SC300 | midnight wangan | A 752

The SC is a quintessential 90’s sports car but hideously underrated, so I had to have one in the game. The car has great modding opportunities, especially given the 2JZ. I went for a realistic street build, like one you’d see on the midnight streets of Tokyo.

The Vertex kit and HRE C100 wheels were ideal for this, giving the car a very period-correct look. I didn’t add much power or take out much weight to keep things strictly realistic- the car makes 416hp and 498nm which pushes around 1,628kg. Nevertheless it’s still a good drift car.

Porsche 911 Turbo 3.3 | 964-bodied outlaw | S1 853

I love outlaw, Stancenation-style Porsches, so when the 930 Turbo became available in a Forzathon I had to get one. This one is a bit of an amalgamation- 903 Turbo body, wing removed, 964 bumpers and skirts, and the twin-turbo motor from the 993 GT2, which is making 499hp and 603nm.

Like the 930 it’s still RWD, although some fat horizon-race-tyre-shod Fifteen52 Outlaw 001’s (The same as much of Magnus Walker’s cars) keep the car on the road. Race springs and other chassis mods drop the car to the ground and the blue-on-brass colour combo creates a very good-looking car indeed.

Ferrari 246 Dino | vintage racer | B 699

I had a Dino sitting, not being used in my garage (as you do) but I didn’t want to auction it, so I made an LM- spec racecar. Mods are limited, pretty much all round, except for some weight reduction, brakes, stickier rubber and a handful of engine mods, just to free up the engine and make it more responsive.

Then I went on Google Image search to find some racing 246 liveries, on which I based the design you see before you. A cheap, simple, but also quite effective. The car weighs just over 1 tonne and makes 257hp and 296nm, enough to transform it into a true thoroughbred

Audi RS4 B8 | V12 megawagon | S2 915

I’m not normally about that V12 swap life, but that’s only really becuase I like to keep things in the family and not too sacrilegious. And since Audi own Lamborghini… Yeah. It counts.

So in goes the Aventador’s V12, a little bit of chassis mods, some HRE Vintage 935’s (because quattro +turbofan = glorious), some snow tires and springs and hey presto, you have yourself an all-weather weapon. The 7 litre V12 makes 725hp and 714nm which is… adequate. Also weight is down to 1,492kgs to allow the V12 to work its muscles.

Acura RSX Type-S | FWD monster | S1 839

With the lack of Peugeots, Citroens, VWs and (good) Renaultsports your options for a fwd car are disappointingly limited. Luckily, there are many good Hondas/Acuras, such as this RSX, which is especially good thanks to its 2.3 litre, 474hp supercharged motor, massive front race tires, race-grade wings and an overall weight of just 1,150kgs.

It’s the ultimate Honda in every way- extremely aggressive VTEC engine, very characteristically FWD driving experience (understeer or oversteer, you choose) and -when not on the power- an extremely grippy and responsive turn-in

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