Forza Horizon 5 1993 Jaguar XJ220S (DLC)

I have a soft spot for cars that real-world collectors would never dare push past 40 mph, so dropping the 1993 Jaguar XJ220S TWR onto the open roads of Forza Horizon 5's Mexico felt like a genuine occasion. This is not the standard XJ220 you might remember from early Need for Speed discs. The S is the full TWR rework: carbon fibre body panels swapped in for almost every aluminium piece, a wider stance, adjustable rear spoiler, new front splitter, and a 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6 punched up to push well past the road car's already alarming output. In the game it sits in the extreme-performance bracket, and the top speed figures in the Kudos database show it clearing 224 mph on FH5's longer straights. That is not a car you ease into. In practice behind a gamepad the XJ220S handles like what it is: a mid-engined, rear-wheel-drive missile with a lot of turbo boost and not a lot of forgiveness. Casual players coming from the slower Horizon Festival cars will want to soften the tune or flip on stability assists, because the rear steps out quickly under hard throttle on the tighter corners of the Mexican highland roads. Wheel and pedal setup owners get the most out of it, since the car rewards progressive throttle inputs in a way that a thumbstick makes harder to deliver consistently. That said, once you find the rhythm, the thing is enormously satisfying to thread through FH5's faster canyon sections. It earns its place in S1 and S2 class lobbies and holds its own in online PvP, though it is not a meta-dominator straight out of the box without a solid tune. As a DLC car it launched as part of the Car Pass in January 2022, and the Steam review sample is small but sits solidly positive, which lines up with the general community feeling that rare-car DLC adds meaningful garage depth rather than padding. The visual model is detailed, carrying the wider sills and the signature XJ220 long-nose silhouette that made it look like a Le Mans car somebody accidentally made street-legal. Sound design leans into that twin-turbo V6 growl, which divides people who expected the heavier V12 note of the road car's spiritual ancestors, but is historically accurate to what TWR actually built. Nine of these existed in real life. Six were road cars. Now you can own a digital one without a seven-figure auction result. For the collector-minded FH5 player who already has the base game dialled in, this is a focused, high-skill reward car with legitimate motorsport heritage behind it. It does not change the game, and solo players who only dabble in casual cruising may find its temperament more frustrating than fun. But anyone who enjoys FH5's online time trials, rivals leaderboards, or just wants something genuinely rare and fast to show off in a convoy session will get solid use out of it. Just budget some tuning credits before you point it at a speed trap.

Riley · Scout Team

Sports & racing

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