FH5, Series 35, Week 4

This week saw me polish off another notebook which, I see, I started using way back in Series 23.

The most annoying thing about the weekly in the Lynk & Co. 03+ was spending CR60,000 on a car that needed little or no more money spent on it. I went with an engine swap, but this sort of thing only makes sense when the car is new.

The danger sign was a matter of lather, rinse, repeat until I PB’ed it by a whisker. Best to start near the bonus board, and I suppose I ought to have tried to build my Jesko for dirt or off-road racing, but couldn’t be bothered. A one-third very good SWS. I one-shotted the drift zone and PB’ed it. My reward? A horrendously terrible SWS.

The Eventlab tiles were broken again and only worked after I resumed the game after lunch. Eventlab (1) was Old Bridge Rally Stage. I used my A800 Extreme E (practice for the Trial). Not a bad circuit and the use of props was minimal, but effective.

Eventlab (2), Gummy Bear Circuit, was generally not terrible, but in cockpit view the props could sometimes be confusing because if you ignored the mini-map, it wasn’t clear where you were meant to go in more than one place. There was also a checkpoint placed ahead of a corner which had me turning in too soon.

For Horizon Tour I ended up in a series of races for A800 Ferraris. Fortunately, I have a 360 Challenge Stradale in that class. All road races, but all at night. I came 3rd all three times in spite of missing a checkpoint round Chihuahua because the player in 3rd had problems cornering properly. Can no one take corners in FH5?

I have a C600 International Scout, which I used in Audi Feel about This. I came 2nd in Tapalpa because the drivatar at the front was uncatchable. Grrr! I had a 1986 F-150 pestering me in Cordillera.

I took a chance with the 2010 Nissan 370Z for City Focus. There’s not much scope for upgrading the car, but I was 11 secs. ahead of the drivatars by the end of Cathedral and 10 secs. ahead at the end of Los Jardines.

I should’ve picked an extreme track toy for Woo-hoon, but I went with the 2017 Porsche 911 RSR. After several attempts I managed to win the Volcán Sprint, but it was clear I was in the wrong car. I decided to try the Czinger, but the game pushed me into the Apollo IE, which was actually a good choice because it made short work of the drivatars in the remaining races. The game needs a GT3 category.

It was Forza Counting to the fore in the Trial. I was on the front row of humanity for Herencia and managed a 2nd because the player in second got snagged on a wall late in the race. In spite of this we still won by 50pts. “No,” said the game. “You just lost by a much larger margin.” Off to the loathsome Urban Cross Country we went. I managed a 3rd because I couldn’t quite catch Teagan. I was expecting to have to do Estadio, but the game then said, “Ha, ha, ye cullies! Ye have won!” Er, all right, I’m not arguing.

The one-shotted the HW PR stunt and got a one-third excellent SWS.

There were not a lot of choices for Charging up to Win (was this originally intended for EVs?) I went with the Corvette E-Ray, which proved to be a sound choice, although it’d be nice if the circuits were limited to two laps.

I managed to one-shot the desert speed zone in Sierra Nueva, but only managed to hit the right speed as I headed towards the exit. It’s probably better to do this west-to-east, but my FE Fairlady managed it in the opposite direction. A one-third good SWS.

For Feeling right at Home I picked the Lotus Elise 190 which proved itself to be a sound performer once again.

This week the reward cars were all thirds, which I promptly deleted. I’m sure that we got the Camaro ZL1 1LE as a reward not so long ago.

I had a brief play with the Taycan CT, which starts at the top of A class meaning that you’ll end up in S1 class sooner rather than later. Fat barge.

I upgraded the GR Yaris to the top of A class and took it round all the scramble races in the game. Very agile car in spite of it being inherently AWD. I added the Rocket Bunny body kit for road racing because comes with a wider range of tyre widths than the stock car. Whether it’s dirt or road racing, this is a good car to drive and a praiseworthy addition to the game.

Rally Monsters and Costa Este: a follow-up

One of the cars that won’t be added to the Backstage Pass in FH4 is the FE Capri (fair enough; it makes sense). I managed to buy one from the AH completely by chance some time ago and thought that I’d take it racing. As it has off-road race tyres (well, as we know them in FH5), I also thought I’d try the car in the Titan. It’s a rally monster, hence the connection with Costa Este.

The race was a massacre – mine. The drivatars shot off into the distance as the Capri bounced about randomly and yawed left or right every time it went into the air. I frequently ended up in last place with no chance of catching the drivatar ahead of me. On one attempt, having passed a drivatar, I watched it pass me without even being impeded by the fences in its path or even sliding sideways. In other words, this was a worse version of Costa Este.

Off-road racing in FH5 is, I think, marginally less soul destroying, but it seems to favour the drivatars rather than the players. In FH4 the one long race I rarely ever do is the Titan because the drivatars are always at a massive advantage (although one of the silliest races I ever won was the Titan in the Peel P50; my driving was awful, but the drivatars managed to be even worse).

Will things be any better in FH6?