If you’ve been around the Forza community for any length of time now, then you probably know the community is very keen on guessing and leaking what new cars are coming to the franchise next (whether it be the Horizon franchise or the Motorsport franchise). Everyone wants to know if a highly requested car or their favorite car is making it into their racing game of choice, so naturally a fuss would be made about new –or potential new– additions to the games. Lucky for you, just such a situation has arisen in the last week or so.
A YouTuber I stumbled across called Jakexvx recently made a video about an FH5 GTPlanet post he saw. In that post, a user by the name of Kelpy D claimed they dug into the files of the game and found some interesting assets that weren’t currently being used. By “assets”, I mean car assets. Specifically: Badging and wheel designs (with the file names detailing what car they’re for). Like the generous soul Jake and Kelpy are, they gave the link out –on Jake’s YouTube channel– so anyone could download the files themselves and scour them for anything interesting. With me being a Mopar guy and all (plus a fan of the game), I figured I’d better have a look at the files too and see what I could find, and boy did I find some intriguing cars hidden away.
Note this though: Jake said in his video that not all the hidden cars in the files had a likelihood of returning to the franchise. In all truth, some were probably just leftover assets the developers hadn’t removed from the core game files yet. With that in mind, I will not only be showing you what I found, but they’ll be categorized from Least Likely (to make it in-game) to Most Likely. Let’s begin.
Least Likely Cars
As previously stated, these are cars that –while noteworthy– are pretty unlikely (in my opinion) to make an appearance in FH5. Barring some precedent-altering events, these cars have never made it into a prior Horizon game before and I don’t expect that to change now. Starting with…
The Dodge Stealth
Forza Veterans from the O.G. Motorsport days will remember that the Stealth had a long tenure in the franchise. From the very first Forza game all the way up until Motorsport 4. The Stealth was a slightly unusual but –for me at least– much welcome part of the Dodge lineup. Funnily enough, it was also one of the loudest cars I’d ever driven in Motorsport 4 (eclipsed only by the A-Body Plymouth Barracuda). For those of us that weren’t too keen on the design of its Mitsubishi brother, the Stealth was a perfect alternative.
Even still, by the time Motorsport 4 came around, the Stealth’s days were numbered. Once the Xbox One launch title Motorsport 5 was released, the Stealth was nowhere to be seen. Granted Motorsport 5 was more of a technological showcase than it was a fully-fledged game, the Stealth was still absent in every Forza game after.
I’m sure you can imagine my shock then when I saw the Stealth’s 5-spoke wheels and file name in the folder. To think the Stealth’s assets have probably been in every Forza game since Motorsport 4 and went unused is incredible to me. I would also say it’s infuriating, but I learned something new about the development process for these games. Apparently, Forza will periodically re-scan cars (don’t know how many for certain) when an all-new console generation makes a massive leap forward in graphical fidelity. Can’t have old assets in a modern game without some enhancement to their quality after all, lest the car looks out of place. This was the situation when FM5 came out on the Xbox One just shy of a decade ago. If you recall, the Xbox One made huge strides in the visual department, even though it suffered in gameplay and content as a result.
In any case, seeing as the Stealth’s 5-spoke wheels appear to be below-par in the quality department, I think it’s safe to say the Stealth is not returning to Forza games anytime soon.
The Dodge Neon SRT-4
Unlike the Stealth, the Neon SRT-4 does still make regular appearances in Forza titles, albeit only in Motorsport ones. As much of a bummer (and puzzling) decision as that is, it’s better than the alternative. Regardless, I found SRT-4 badging in a different game folder and unless the Caliber SRT-4 is coming to Horizon 5, I’m pretty sure this means the badging is nothing more than carryover assets from previous games.
The Dodge Omni GLHS
Those who know their Mopars won’t be surprised that I found this car in the game files. The Omni GLHS is not a new car to Forza games and still shows up in Motorsport titles. What sets this car apart from the Neon for me is my –incredibly– vague feeling that this one actually has a shot of showing up in FH5. Truthfully, I’ve got no good reason for believing this, it’s just a gut feeling I have. Mind you, I don’t think it’s a high probability the car will show up either. I merely think there’s at best a remote chance this car will show up (which is more than I can say for the Neon or Stealth).
Let’s move on to the next category.
Most Likely Cars
Cars in this category aren’t guaranteed to make it into FH5, however, I do believe they have significantly better odds of making it into the game than the previous finds. Let’s start with…
The Dodge Magnum SRT-8
For those in the know, this won’t come as a shock to you. For those out of the loop, let me fill you in: That YouTuber I mentioned earlier originally came across this information thanks to a forum user on GTPlanet known as Kelpy D (the person who initially dug through the game files to see what was there). Not long after, the news spread to Reddit and the OP of the thread generously listed which cars were new. The Magnum in question was in that list among many other exciting finds.
I’ve put this car in the “Most Likely” category because I don’t recall this car ever being in a Forza game previously, and the quality of the textures I saw in the files looked way too new to just be an old asset. Unfortunately, I can’t think of why Playground Games decided now of all times to add this generation of Magnum into the game (especially when there’s an older Magnum with far more significance to Mexican car culture available) but nevertheless I’m happy to see another high-performance LX car joining the roster.
The Dodge SuperCharger Concept
Do you remember that Dodge Charger concept the brand unveiled at SEMA a while back? The one that debuted the 1,000 horsepower Hellephant engine? Yeah, I found that car in the game files! I can’t remember if I’ve previously heard of rumors suggesting this car was coming to an older Forza title, but I think we’ve still got a pretty good chance of seeing this car show up in Horizon 5 regardless. While the odds might not be as high as they are for the Magnum, the SuperCharger would make for a sweet seasonal reward (and we’ve seen weirder cars join the franchise). Let’s cross our fingers and toes that this one does genuinely make it.
Before we end though, let me show you one last thing to make you laugh.
I also found the Fast & Furious cars from Horizon 2
Oh yes, not only did I find all the above, I also found the very old and barely used assets from the F&F “spin-off” game based on Horizon 2 back in 2014. How the hell Playground Games kept all the other unused cars yet didn’t remove these is both baffling and hilarious to me. Especially when you consider these cars won’t be used in a “proper” Forza game at all in the near or far future. Crazy that these cars are just laying in the files collecting virtual dust.
What do you think though? Do you think the Magnum and SuperCharger will make it into Forza Horizon 5? Do you agree with my hunch about the Omni GLHS or think I’m insane? Let me know in the comments below!