TL;DR
- The Trial is FH6’s team co-op championship against Unbeatable AI Drivatars — exclusive to Series 2 onward.
- You must be a Horizon Legend (Gold Wristband) to enter.
- Your team of players earns combined finish points across three races; beat the AI team score to win.
- Winning The Trial earns around 10 Festival Playlist points — one of the biggest single-event payouts in the whole playlist.
- The Trial resets every Thursday with a new car class restriction and bonus reward car.
- You can play with random matchmaking or bring your own team through a Convoy.
Forza Horizon 6 The Trial is back in Series 2: Horizon Decades, and it is the most challenging — and most rewarding — event in the Festival Playlist. Deliberately held back from Series 1 to give new players time to progress, The Trial debuted on June 18, 2026, when Series 2 began. It asks your team of real players to beat a field of Unbeatable AI Drivatars across a three-race championship. If your team wins, you earn one of the highest point payouts in the entire weekly playlist. This guide covers everything — how The Trial works, how to unlock it, best car strategies, scoring, tips to beat the AI, and how it fits into Series 2 progression.
Forza Horizon 6 is available on Forza.net, Steam, Xbox, and PlayStation.
What Is The Trial in Forza Horizon 6?
The Trial is a weekly co-operative championship in the Festival Playlist. It pits a team of real players against a lineup of AI Drivatars running at Unbeatable difficulty — the hardest the game offers. Unlike standard Seasonal Championships where you race solo against the AI, The Trial turns the race into a team effort. Your finishing positions combine with your teammates’ positions to create a total score for your team. The AI team does the same. Whoever has the lower combined position score at the end wins the race. Beat the AI team across a three-race championship and your whole team earns the reward.
The Trial is a long-running fan favourite from the Forza Horizon series. It first appeared in Forza Horizon 4 and returned prominently in Forza Horizon 5. In FH6, Playground Games deliberately kept it out of Series 1 to give players time to progress through the campaign and earn the Gold Wristband before facing its challenge.
For a full overview of how the Festival Playlist and Series 2 are structured, see our Forza Horizon 6 Series 2: Horizon Decades overview guide.
How to Unlock The Trial in FH6
The Trial has one hard requirement: you must be a Horizon Legend. That means earning the Gold Wristband — the final and highest Wristband tier in the game. There are seven Wristbands in total, and the Gold Wristband is awarded when you complete the full campaign and reach 32,500 Horizon Festival Points.
The Gold Wristband also unlocks access to Legend Island and the Colossus — FH6’s longest race, looping the entire Japanese freeway system. If you have done those, you already have access to The Trial.
If you are still working toward the Gold Wristband, the fastest routes are Road Racing, Dirt Racing, Cross Country events, PR Stunts, and Showcase Events. Horizon Play multiplayer levels also feed into Horizon Festival Points up to Level 25, so playing online advances your campaign simultaneously. For the full roadmap, see our Wristband Progression system guide and our guide on how to unlock Legend Island.
How Does The Trial Work – Rules and Format
The Trial runs as a three-race co-operative championship. Here is the full format:
Matchmaking and Team Size
The Trial uses automatic matchmaking to fill your team with other players. You can also enter through a Convoy — grouping up with friends and entering together. If you bring your own team via Convoy, the matchmaking system fills any empty spots with other players from the pool. A team in The Trial can hold up to six players on the human side.
The AI Team
Your team races against a lineup of AI Drivatars set at Unbeatable difficulty. These are the fastest AI opponents in FH6. Unlike standard championships where difficulty is adjustable, The Trial locks the AI at maximum difficulty. The AI Drivatars will not hold back, will make very few mistakes, and will challenge even experienced drivers.
Scoring
Scoring in The Trial is based on finish positions across all racers in the session. Each race assigns a position to every driver — human and AI. Lower positions are better. After each race, the total position numbers from your human team are added together. The AI team’s positions are added together separately. Whichever team has the lower combined score wins that race. The team that wins more races across the three-race championship wins The Trial.
This is the key to strategy in The Trial. You do not all need to beat every AI car. You need your team total to beat the AI team total. If one teammate finishes last, another teammate finishing first balances it out. Teamwork and consistency matter more than individual heroics.
Car Class Restriction
Each week’s Trial specifies a car class or car type restriction. You must bring a car that meets the restriction to enter. The requirement changes every Thursday when the Festival Playlist resets. Always check the restriction before preparing your car — showing up with the wrong class wastes the entire session.
Points and Rewards
Completing The Trial earns Festival Playlist points. Winning earns significantly more than losing or participating without completing. Based on how The Trial worked in previous Forza Horizon games and how FH6’s playlist is structured, completing a Trial win is worth approximately 10 Festival Playlist points — one of the single highest point payouts available in any given week. On top of points, The Trial also awards a bonus reward car to teams that win the championship.
Why The Trial Is the Best Weekly Event for Points
To put The Trial’s value in context: most individual activities in the Festival Playlist award 1–5 points. Three Seasonal Championships give you 5 points each. The Treasure Hunt gives 3 points. The Photo Challenge gives 2 points. Seven daily challenges add up to 7 points total across the week.
A Trial win delivers points equivalent to running two full Seasonal Championships — compressed into one event that typically takes 15–25 minutes. For players who want to hit the 40-point weekly threshold as efficiently as possible, The Trial is the highest-value activity in the entire playlist per minute of play.
As noted in community guides, if your team can reliably win, The Trial is worth prioritising every week. If you are playing with strangers and the lobby collapses, the points are still achievable through other activities. But with a competent team, it is the fastest route to 40 points and beyond.
For more on efficient point farming and how to hit the Lotus Exige Cup 430’s 160-point target in Series 2, see our Seasonal Events and Festival Playlist guide.
Best Cars for The Trial in Series 2
The right car depends entirely on the class restriction posted for that week’s Trial. Here is how to think about car selection for each major class type you are likely to see:
A Class (800 PI)
A Class is the most common Trial restriction. At this bracket, AWD cars with strong acceleration and handling tend to dominate against Unbeatable AI. Tuning a car to the 800 PI ceiling is critical — a car tuned exactly to the class ceiling will outperform a stock car of the same class significantly. Japanese performance cars tuned to A Class are typically the strongest picks given the circuit types in Japan.
For specific car picks, see our best cars for every class guide. For S1 and above, see our best R Class cars guide.
B Class (600 PI)
B Class Trials favour lighter, nimbler builds. The AI at Unbeatable is fast in straights but can be outmanoeuvred in technical sections. Lightweight Japanese cars tuned to 600 PI — particularly rally-style setups — handle the mixed road surfaces in Japan extremely well.
S1 and S2 Class
Higher-class Trials appear as the series progresses. At S1 and S2, the AI gap closes and raw speed matters more. Traction control, tuned suspension, and clean braking become more important. AWD remains the most forgiving drivetrain at these classes for players who are less experienced in multiplayer.
Manufacturer or Type Restrictions
Some Trials restrict to a specific country of origin (Japanese cars only) or car type (Hot Hatches, Muscle Cars, etc.). When this happens, check your garage for the best-tuned car that fits the restriction. If you need to buy something, check the Autoshow or Auction House before the event rather than scrambling mid-session.
For more car preparation tips, see our car tuning and mechanical balance guide and our best cars to upgrade and bodykit presets guide.
Tips and Strategies to Win The Trial
Check the Restriction Before You Enter
This sounds obvious, but it is the most common mistake. Always open the Festival Playlist and read the full restriction for the current week’s Trial before preparing a car. Class, country, car type — all of these change every week. A mismatch means you cannot enter the event at all or are forced to race with a suboptimal car.
Tune Your Car to the Class Ceiling
Never enter The Trial with a stock car or an undertuned build. The Unbeatable AI uses cars tuned to the PI ceiling for every race. If you are running 720 PI in an A Class Trial, you are giving the AI a meaningful advantage from the start. Use community tunes from the Creative Hub if you do not tune manually — search for the car name and the current class restriction.
Enter with a Convoy of Friends
The single biggest improvement to your Trial win rate is bringing friends or organised teammates. Random matchmaking produces wildly variable results — some lobbies have experienced players, some have players who take wrong turns and finish last in every race. A Convoy of even two or three competent drivers creates a reliable scoring floor that the AI team will struggle to beat.
For help finding other players to Convoy with, check the Forza Discord or your platform’s LFG (Looking for Group) channels. For a full breakdown of how Convoy and co-op work in FH6, see our Horizon Play multiplayer progression guide.
Understand the Scoring — Play for Position, Not Just Speed
In The Trial, your individual finish position matters less than your team total. If you are a stronger driver, do not just race for your own first-place finish — consider holding back AI cars to keep them out of lower positions, which reduces the AI team’s combined score. If you see a teammate struggling, staying between them and the AI pack helps your team’s overall score more than sprinting ahead.
Equally, if your team has one very strong driver and several weaker ones, the strong driver finishing first plus the weaker drivers finishing mid-pack can still beat the AI team if the AI drivers are being held back or are spread out in the field.
Use the Right Routes and Know the Circuits
The Trial’s three races take place on different circuits around Japan. Knowing the braking points, corner sequences, and elevation changes on each track is a significant advantage over both the AI and random teammates. The Unbeatable AI is very fast on clean circuits but can sometimes be disrupted in tight technical sections.
For help learning Japan’s roads and circuits, see our Japan map guide covering all regions and landmarks and our best roads guide.
Do Not Abandon Mid-Race
If your team loses Race 1 of The Trial, do not leave the session. The championship is best of three. Losing Race 1 does not end it — winning Races 2 and 3 still gives your team the overall championship. Leaving mid-session means losing the points entirely and disrupting your remaining teammates’ score balance.
If Your Lobby Is Struggling, Try Again
Random lobbies in The Trial can occasionally be unwinnable if multiple teammates are disconnecting or performing far below average. In that case, leaving and rejoining matchmaking for a fresh lobby is a better use of your time than grinding through a three-race loss with no reward. The Trial resets on Thursday — you have a full week to find a good lobby.
The Trial Is Worth 10 Points Even With Random Teams
The points from a Trial win are approximately 10 playlist points. With a reliable team, this is the fastest 10 points available in the weekly playlist. Even in a somewhat disorganised lobby, a win is achievable if the total distribution of positions favours your team. Do not write off a session just because one teammate is struggling — if the rest of the team is performing well, the combined score can still win.
The Trial vs Seasonal Championships – Which Is Better for Points?
This depends on your situation:
- Solo or unreliable team: Run the three Seasonal Championships for a guaranteed 15 points without relying on others.
- Reliable team via Convoy: The Trial is better. A win gives approximately 10 points in a single event, and doing all three Seasonal Championships alongside it gives you 25 points from just four events.
- Chasing 40+ points: Do both. The Trial plus all three championships plus the Photo Challenge, Treasure Hunt, and a handful of dailies gets you to 40+ points comfortably.
The Trial is not a replacement for Seasonal Championships — it is an addition to them for Gold Wristband holders that significantly accelerates point accumulation each week.
The Trial in Series 2 – What to Expect Each Week
Series 2: Horizon Decades runs from June 18 to July 16, 2026. The Trial is active every week of the series from the first Summer season onward. Each week brings a new car class restriction, a new set of three circuits, and a new bonus reward car for winning the championship.
The Trial bonus cars in Series 2 are expected to reflect the Horizon Decades theme — vehicles from specific eras and manufacturers that align with the weekly season. As each weekly Trial reward car is confirmed, check the Festival Playlist menu for the current week’s bonus car before entering.
For the full breakdown of Series 2 reward cars, point thresholds, and seasonal schedule, see our Series 2: Horizon Decades complete overview.
What Happens If You Don’t Have the Gold Wristband?
If you do not yet have the Gold Wristband, The Trial will appear in the Festival Playlist but will be locked. You will need to complete the campaign progression to the Gold Wristband tier before you can enter.
The good news is that you do not need The Trial to earn both weekly reward cars each season. The weekly point thresholds of 20 and 40 points are achievable through Seasonal Championships, daily challenges, the Photo Challenge, the Treasure Hunt, PR Stunts, and Monthly Rivals alone. The Trial is a bonus for Horizon Legends that accelerates the process — it is not the only path to the cars.
That said, the 160-point target for the Lotus Exige Cup 430 in Series 2 is significantly easier to reach if you are consistently winning The Trial each week. If you plan to play FH6 long-term, prioritising the Gold Wristband before Series 3 begins is one of the best investments you can make in your progression.
For the fastest way to build your Wristband level, see our guide on how to get XP and level up fast and our full beginner’s guide from Tourist to Legend.
The Trial and the Horizon Play Crossover
Playing online in any mode — including The Trial — earns Horizon Play XP. Up to Level 25, each Horizon Play level also grants Horizon Festival Points toward your next Wristband. This means playing The Trial before you have the Gold Wristband still contributes to your progression, even if you cannot participate in the event itself until you unlock it.
The Trial also contributes to the Decades Badge in Series 2 — Playground Games’ new profile cosmetic awarded for completing at least one of every playlist activity type during Horizon Decades. If you have the Gold Wristband, entering The Trial even once this series counts toward the badge. Do not skip it.
For everything else related to online play and progression in FH6, see our Horizon Play multiplayer progression and ranking guide and our full Spec Racing guide.
Quick Tips Summary for The Trial
- Earn the Gold Wristband first — no Gold Wristband, no Trial.
- Check the weekly class restriction in the Festival Playlist every Thursday before preparing a car.
- Always tune your car to the exact PI ceiling for the restriction — never enter stock or undertuned.
- Use community tunes from the Creative Hub if you do not tune manually.
- Enter with a Convoy of friends whenever possible for the most reliable results.
- Focus on team scoring — position totals decide the outcome, not individual speed alone.
- Hold AI cars back if your team is ahead; this reduces the AI’s position score more than just racing for first.
- Do not leave after losing Race 1 — the championship is best of three.
- If the random lobby is collapsing, restart and rejoin — you have a full week to find a good session.
- Stack The Trial with all three Seasonal Championships every week for the most efficient path to 40+ points.
For more on every other element of the Festival Playlist and how to make the most of Series 2, check our guides on the Car Pass and Time Attack Car Pack, our Achievements and Trophy guide, our tips on earning Credits fast, and our overview of the Eliminator mode for more competitive online fun beyond The Trial.
