Forza Horizon 4 is still one of the best racing games on the market today. Its stunning visuals, wide selection of cars, and exciting racing mechanics make it better than most of its competitors. Despite the more recent Forza Horizon 5 boasting a better car list and improved gameplay features, its predecessor is very much up there in terms of viability, thanks in no small part to the large number of players still playing it in 2023.
Since its launch, Forza Horizon 4’s meta has changed a few times thanks to players relentlessly testing every vehicle and discovering new tuning setups. While most cars are good enough to win any race, there are some that sit in the top tiers of their respective classes (D, C, B, A, S1, S2, and X). These are the ones racers should be investing in and tuning out to put their competition firmly in their rearview mirror.
As such, take a look at the best cars in each Forza Horizon 4 class and why they are the vehicles of choice.
8 Sunbeam Tiger (D Class)
The 1967 Sunbeam Tiger should win just because it is the most gorgeous car in Forza Horizon 4’s D Class. Thankfully, it has a lot more going for it than just aesthetic. In fact, when you put everything together, it ends up trumping its fellow D Class cars.
Upgrade the Sunbeam Tiger, and it gives racers a significant power advantage over any of its peers. That, with its lightweight chassis and solid handling, makes it a machine that can take the fight to lower-end C Class cars. In a league where pace levels are relatively low, having a powerhouse like this car is almost like a victory cheat code.
7 Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205 (C Class)
The Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205 is the best JDM performance car deal and the pick of the bunch in Forza Horizon 4’s C Class. It is a difficult car to acquire due to its status as a seasonal reward item. However, it is one of the best cars in its division and is well worth the chase.
Thanks to the Celica’s AWD setup, drivers get minimal wheelspin during race starts and great cornering ability. This allows it to carry plenty of speed at all times, while other cars falter at some stage or another. Once it is tuned a bit, no C Class car can match it as an all-round package. It stands out no matter the surface you race it at, whether it is the standard dry track or in the cold winter.
6 Shelby Cobra 427 S/C (B Class)
The Shelby Cobra 427 S/C’s ridiculous price tag of 2,100,000 CR may raise a few eyebrows, but it is a worthy price to pay for arguably the best B Class car in Forza Horizon 4. Once racers have mastered its quirks, they will be smoking their rivals on a consistent basis.
The Cobra has stupendous power mated to an extremely lightweight body, which allows it to generate speeds its contemporaries cannot match. It has them dusted in terms of raw stat superiority as well. While the massive wheelspin at starts is a problem, the car compensates for it with its pace. It is the B Class endgame and well worth the money if you are looking to get back to racing glory.
5 Hot Wheels Bone Shaker (A Class)
The Hot Wheels Bone Shaker has a notorious reputation in Forza Horizon 4. It may be one of the sickest Hot Wheels creations of all time, but it is also one of the most broken cars the game has ever seen, to the point where A Class races used to be entire grids of the same car. The heat it generated in the Forza community was unlike anything else, and that was because of its status as the undisputed king of the A Class.
The Bone Shaker is so busted that it allows for an error or two during a race, simply because it has the pace to cancel them out. It requires a bit of practice to master, so do not get it thinking it is a foolproof solution to A Class race problems. However, once players come to grips with it, they will enjoy blasting past helpless racers in other cars.
4 Honda NSX-R 1992 (S1 Class)
The S1 Class has plenty of viable options in Forza Horizon 4. The pick of the bunch is the Honda NSX-R 1992, which ticks every important box. It is fast, can perform on multiple stages, doesn’t break the bank, and can be tuned in multiple ways to bring out the best of any particular stat.
The NSX-R may not be the ultimate edition of Honda's supercar in the game, but it is somehow better than its faster siblings, all things considered.
It handles like a dream, which means drivers can seamlessly move into and out of corners carrying a lot of speed. It sticks where you think it will slip, and ekes grip where you think it will falter. Owners will need to spend a bit to tune it from A Class to S1 Class, but that should not be a problem given how cheap it is to buy. Indeed, they can buy multiple NSXs, tune each out for different conditions, and watch all of them excel.
3 Koenigsegg CCGT (S2 Class)
The S2 Class in Forza Horizon 4 is dominated by some proper monsters. There is a car for every need, whether it is sheer pace, handling, or diversity. It is difficult to pick a winner here, but one of them has to be the Koenigsegg CCGT, which is arguably the best all-rounder in its group.
The CCGT is one of the best handling cars in the entire game. As such, while it may not have the outright pace of some other cars, its mind-boggling handling means it is not a machine that no one dares to take to its limit.
What adds to its charm is the fact that it performs well in all formats of the game as compared to its peers. It excels racing on both dry and wet circuits and on winter tracks, making it one of the S2 Class cars drivers should save up for and tune according to their requirements.
2 Ferrari F40 Competizione (S2 Class)
The CCGT may be the car for all-round performance in the S2 Class, but if sheer pace is the requirement, the Ferrari F40 Competizione is the investment of choice. Maranello's iconic supercar is certainly not an easy car to learn due to its twitchy handling, but in the hands of a top racer, none of its peers can match the speeds it generates.
It would be foolish to take the F40C (as it is affectionately called in Forza Horizon 4 circles) to winter tracks. However, throw it on any dry race in the game, and it becomes a weapon. Using it on dry circuits and sprints is almost an unfair advantage, and assuming there are no driver errors, it will cross the finish line in first every single time.
1 Ferrari 599XX Evoluzione (X Class)
The X Class in Forza Horizon 4 is just a bonkers set of cars that can get up to silly speeds without a care in the world. However, there is one machine that rises above the rest after some deeper probing, and that is the Ferrari 599XX Evoluzione. It remains one of three cars in the game (along with the Mosler MT900S and the Koenigsegg Jesko) that can trigger a speed glitch. How cool is that?
What we love about the 599XX Evo is that it handles better than both the MT900S and the Jesko. Moreover, while its controllability isn't as good as that of, say, a Lamborghini Sesto Elemento, it handles well enough, especially considering it is capable of hitting a top speed of 320 mph after all the tuning is done. That is an outrageous number and one drivers should be abusing at speed traps and dry races. Indeed, the 599XX Evo's game-breaking pace and seals its status as the king of its class and the fastest car in the game, allowing racers guaranteed wins if they can live with its speed.