FH5, Series 32, Week 4

I started with the weekly in the Fiesta M Sport. wasn’t pleased about having to paint the car, which was pointless and unnecessary. Waste of a slot in the paint jobs section.

The Eventlab was Figure 8 Tunnel. Interesting, but monotonous style. The reward was another Cadillac. I checked later on to find I have four of one and three of another because someone sent me one as a gift. I need to whittle these down to one apiece. I don’t drive them.

The PR stunt was annoying, but attempting it at night didn’t help. Did get a two-thirds quite good wheel spin.

I took a picture, I got a T-shirt. I suspect it was a T-shirt I already have. I love playing dressing-up games. I don’t know why there are all these cars in this one. It’s annoying as it gets in the way of all the dressing-up. Come on, PGG, give players what they really want.

The Horizon Tour I bumbled into was S1 900 Beetles doing dirt racing. Fortunately, the Andretti Beetle counted, which spared me my blushes. I ended up in a team of 12-year-olds who think that the phrase “clean racing” is semantic nonsense.

I went with the 1973 911 Carrera for Out of the Barn. Good choice of car. Reward: some agricultural barge from Japan.

The Alumi Craft Class 10 was, I think, probably not the best choice for Bugging Out, although the drivatars were cheating as well. Reward: some Australian vehicle which I possibly last drove in FH4.

I started Mini Machines in the 2012 Mini JCW (FWD) without checking to see whether it was really the right choice for dirt racing. It wasn’t. If there was a wall round the Caldera Scramble, I understeered into it. I switched to the Countryman and had a much better time of it, although I think the PWR was probably a bit poor.

I picked the Ascari for City Break. Oval Circuit? Ugh. Cathedral? Oh, groovy (but I know what I’m doing). Plaza Circuit? Now we’re talking. Reward: Jaguar iPace. i-Pace? I-Pace? An SUV. Shrug.

I didn’t have much choice for the Trial and took my faithful Ranger Rover Sport SVR out for a spin. Did quite well in Tropico, going from last to first and winning. Didn’t do so well in the Festival Cross-country (another last-place start) because I oversteered into a checkpoint (not for the first or last times) and, well, that was me done. Restarted the event. 2nd in Tropico to a very fast prestige 9 player, and 3rd in the Festival Cross-country. All done. I think that’s my third Ariel Atom.

I one-shotted the HW PR stunt and got a one-third very good SWS.

I was lazy again about my choice of car and chose the Deora for On Brand because it was already A800. Or, I believe, stock (RWD). Minimal tuning. Off I went and spanked the drivatars. As far as I recall, I’ve never upgraded the Deora. Annoyed that the Rip Rod was suddenly the best road racer ever, and puzzled to see the Twin Mill in A class. Or is it in A class, but has 1,000hp?

We had to have that damn’d speed zone again in Sierra Nueva, didn’t we? I did a short run into the zone in my Brabham and PB’ed it. one-third good SWS.

I picked the 2016 Hoonigan Fiesta RS RX for Hoon-ing Around. It did a good job. The Hoonigan F-150 was surprisingly good on dirt, where it should be unsurprising rubbish. But if the drivatars were in FD cars on dirt, they’d be stickier than super glue.

And finally, the new Jag. Very nice to drive out of the box. Bugger all tuning, and needs a gearbox. I upgraded the car slightly and took it round the Horizon Festival Circuit. Hmmm. Needed more engine. Took me three laps to take the lead, but the handling was solid.

Overall, not a great series. The new Mustang is good, and I like the Jag even if its performance is a bit anaemic without engine upgrades. The new Raptor doesn’t really have anything to offer. The rest was just garage bloat. As for the means by which the two additional series cars were unlocked, I wondered whether there was more to it than forced engagement. New mechanic for FH6? Data gathering?

I’ve not seen anything on the forums (or Facebook) about the next series even though this is the final week of the current one. I thought the live streams mostly happened on Fridays (but I’d have to wait till Saturday to see what had been revealed). I think there have been some occasions when there’s been nothing until Monday of the following week. The series 33 update for the game would have to come out on Tuesday or Wednesday next week. Issues with it? I think that once happened in Horizon 4 because of technical difficulties.