Is Forza Horizon 5 good with a steering wheel?

Is Forza Horizon 5 good with a steering wheel? I thought I would investigate while playing the early access preview ahead of its November release date.

Thanks to the Forza Horizon 5 early access preview, I was able to explore the new Mexico map, check out the car collection and get a good feel for the game. All mostly good so far. But what about steering wheel support? Will they work better this time?

I mean, some cars could lap Goliath absurdly fast while using a steering wheel. I made a video about that using the Ferrari 599XX Evo. Forza Horizon 4’s best car, if you ask me. Shame there’s not as much you can do at X class.

Honestly, even with the reactions of a ninja, Lewis Hamilton’s driving ability and a steering wheel setup that costs more than a house in Liverpool, you still spin. And then spin again. Bearable for drifting. Racing, not so much.

The problem was cars that tended to like going sideways were a nightmare to handle, relegating racing duties to slower cars or stuff with high downforce.

Admittedly, you could tweak the settings to improve the situation and it did help. During the Forza Horizon 5 preview I barely changed a thing – just which button to use for the awesome and completely overkill Thrustmaster Sparco handbrake.

So, then, is Forza Horizon 5 good with a steering wheel? Yep. You do not need to watch anymore of this video or read anymore of the article in the description, to be honest. My work is done. Take care, bye.

Seriously though, it is looking like anyone who has a Logitech G923, Thrustmaster T300RS, Fanatec DD or whatever should have a better time than in Forza Horizon 4.

The reason, which I will now explain as I drive up and down the Gran Caldera volcano like an idiot, is to do with the handling. More on that in a second – subscribe, like, share if you would be so kind.

Now before I get burned at the stake by Microsoft, Xbox Game Studios, Turn 10 and Playground Games, please remember that all footage is from the preview. In other words, unfinished, still in development and could well be different at launch. Consider yourself told.

At this point I must point out that using a controller makes drifting and racing easier. The difficulty curve with a wheel is steeper. Fishtailing is still common, particularly when using the ‘Normal’ steering mode and when attempting to channel your inner Ken Block.

However, developer adjustments have made life easier. Firstly, there is now a drift differential. Secondly, the tyre, braking and suspension physics are more realistic. Thirdly, tyre smoke. Lovely, lovely tyre smoke.

Anyway back to the handling. My favourite change in Forza Horizon 5 is not the sandstorms, the sunny beach, flamingoes, lava, barn finds, Alejandra truck, Mayan temples, 526-car collection, addition of the DeLorean DMC or even the ability to call yourself Bantersaurus Rex. Although that is all great.

Nope, it’s the way cars drive. You know, the thing that underpins a racing game. Ignore all the bells and whistles and what you are really left with is the process of driving from A to B. Fast, slow, upside down, on fire, in a cloud of smoke, never arrive – your choice, peeps. Forza Horizon 5 will give you points regardless.

Because in Forza Horizon 4 you had overly rapid direction changes, a floaty, disconnected feel and somewhat basic suspension and braking systems. All characteristics of an arcadey experience.

In Forza Horizon 5, the arcadey handling overtones remain. In fact, I was able to do the same ridiculous burnouts using an all-wheel drive version of the Mosler MT900S. So elements of the physics system clearly remain similar or the same.

What is different is that cars feel heavier. More real. Less floaty. More intuitive. Less unpredictable. Slower. I still found myself facing backwards a lot as I tried to master drifting in an unmodified Toyota Supra. But for normal driving things were more predictable.

Basically, in making Forza Horizon 5 cars harder to drive it has made driving easier because they feel more natural. That’s not confusing at all.

We are not talking simulator-esque levels of realism, mind you, but enough to make steering wheel driving fun. I never felt inclined to just cruise around in Forza Horizon 4 but I found myself doing it in Forza Horizon 5.

It is not just the handling improvements that make steering wheel life in Forza Horizon 5 superior to Forza Horizon 4. The force feedback helps you drive to conditions. You can actually feel the tyres going over cobbles in the city area.

Mud and gravel, meanwhile, feel and sound loose. Man-handling the wheel as you try to counter steer just feels good. I have not tested enough cars to tell you everything will be great with a wheel. But the cars I did try were excellent.

The steering wheel I am using is the Thrustmaster TS-XW with a Sparco wheel not made for drifting. The flat bottom not so good for rapid steering – I should really dig out my Fanatec CSL Elite and WRC wheel for the next videos.

As for the pedals, I was prodding the T-LCM load cell puppies. And also the lovely but really not essential Thrustmaster Sparco handbrake slash sequential shifter, all connected to the PlaySeat Challenge.

Was it difficult to set the steering wheel up in Forza Horizon 5? Nope. I reduced the force feedback down to 0.7 because I already have incredible arms. Just kidding. It felt more realistic and I could drive for longer before my hands fell off.

This was after plugging in the steering wheel into the front USB port on my lovely Xbox Series X. That was it. Easy. Hopefully all wheels will be as trouble-free and, in theory, I would expect that. The TS-XW is not as common as a Logitech G920, G29 or even the newer G923.

You will have to wait for my full Forza Horizon 5 review as we head towards the November the 9^th release date, or the 5^th for those with the Deluxe Edition, to see if that is the case.

With a lot of content missing from the Forza Horizon 5 preview, there might be new features and races that blow our minds. This is a big budget game that has had four previous generations of hindsight and technological improvement under its wing. Or should that be spoiler?

I’m just not as concerned about that because even though I did feel a sense of familiarity and repetition, the core driving gameplay brings Forza Horizon 5 to life. Chuck in a steering wheel and never has a Forza game felt so immersive.

Forza Horizon 5 preview screenshots

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