The Best Drag Car In Forza Horizon 5 (2024)

Microsoft's Forza Horizon 5 is one of the most incredibly successful and popular racing games on the planet today. The game offers players gorgeous scenery with breathtaking visuals, along with an exhaustive list of cars that you could drive throughout the open roads of Mexico. The map of Forza Horizon 5 presents players with every type of terrain possible, from the jungle to the desert, along with tight, narrow streets to race on. All the while, players are behind the wheel of some of the greatest sports cars and supercars in the world.

Updated August 2023: The developers of Forza Horizon 5 keep adding new content into the game, often causing the Top 10 lists to change somewhat - like when they introduced the Hot Wheels DLC and added the Hennessey Venom F5. While the drag racing scene is one of the more popular of activities in the game, the top cars do not really change all that much. As such, we have rewritten this List to make it easier to follow.

Be it street racing, off-road racing, or drag racing, Horizon 5 also offers plenty of exciting types of races for players to compete in, both against online rivals and AI competitors offline. Drag racing remains an exciting part of Forza Horizon 5, with players and gearheads alike constantly working on and tuning their cars to build the fastest drag cars on the tarmac. Even though it is such a popular racing category, the developers failed to add in a quarter-mile drag strip into the game, leaving us with the 0.6-mile Horizon Festival Drag Strip, the 0.8-mile Teotihuacan Drag Strip and the full mile Aerodromo Drag Strip. For this List, we will be using the full-mile Aerodromo Drag Strip as it not only challenges the launch, but also the top speed - making tuning incredibly important.

If virtually drag racing a multi-million Dollar hypercar is on your mind, here are the fastest drag cars in Forza Horizon 5.

13 2002 Koenigsegg CC8S

Autoshow Price: 400,000 CR

The CC8S was one of the very first Koenigseggs ever made and was the car that cemented the Swedish company's obsession with speed. The CC8S features a twin-supercharged 4.7-liter V8 borrowed from Ford - but with ample modifications to handle the power. The car is normally rear-wheel-drive, however to get the best out of it in a drag-racing situation, it needs a drivetrain swap to all-wheel-drive - something that is entirely possible in Forza games.

Fully upgrading the car, with a faster transmission and some drag radials, turns it into a force to be reckoned with. Given the proper tune, the CC8S completes the full mile Aerodromo Drag Strip in just 18.3 seconds. This is a blisteringly fast time, given that the real-life Rimac Nevera does the same distance in 20.4 seconds.

Related: 10 Things We Now Know About The Koenigsegg CC850

12 2011 Lamborghini Sesto Elemento 'Forza Edition'

Only Obtainable Through Wheelspins, Super Wheelspins Or On The Auction House

The Lamborghini Sesto Elemento is an awesome car. It is a complete re-engineering of the Gallardo, stripping the car down to its basic structure and starting over. The result is a fully carbon vehicle which looks fantastic, sounds like an angry orchestra and drives like nothing before it. It was so good that the baddie in the Need For Speed movie used it as his vehicle of choice for the climactic race.

Forza Horizon 5 took the Sesto Elemento and turned the dail up past eleven, lightening the car and giving it more power. The result is one of the most aggressively grippy cars in the game when tuned as such, or one that can complete the 1-mile drag strip in a time of 19.6 seconds. Granted, top speed is not where the Sesto Elemento FE shines, but that is still mightily impressive for a hardcore track car. This car is also the king of Speed Zones - once you get used to the insane grip.

11 2021 Rimac Nevera

Only Obtainable Through The Festival Playlist Or Auction House

The Rimac Nevera is the production version of the famous Concept_Two. It shares most of the C_2's performance and looks, but is slightly different to accommodate all the required equipment and safety systems mandated by the motoring world. It gets 1,914 hp from four electric motors and is currently the quickest accelerating production vehicle on the market, completing the quarter mile in just 8.5 seconds.

Strangely, in Horizon 5, the Nevera is slower than the Concept_Two, both in top speed and in acceleration. Still, it is a mightily impressive car that features a mode-selector in-game, offering an all-wheel-drive 'Track' mode with an active wing and lots of grip, or a rear-wheel-drive 'Drift' mode to get the rear end sideways. Admittedly, it is quite scary having that much power going sideways. The Nevera completed the 1-mile Aerodromo Drag run in just under 19.1 seconds, making it the third slowest on this list.

10 1965 Ford Hoonicorn Mustang

Autoshow Price: 500,000 CR

The Ford Hoonicorn Mustang is best known for being the main Gymkhana toy used by the late Ken Block to complete some massively impressive driving stunts. At its base, it is a 1965 Ford Mustang GT, but every little bit has been altered and replaced to turn it into this twin-turboed, widebody, all-wheel-drive monster.

The car already comes with 1,400 hp as standard, so it's got the oomph to propel it into the stratosphere if necessary. Adding some drag radials and other minor upgrades turns it into a straight-line beast, completing the mile run in just 18.2 seconds - slightly faster than the CC8S.

9 2018 Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5

Autoshow Price: 105,000 CR

The Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5 is by far the cheapest car on this list, but it is a vehicle that can do so many things well. Thanks to the widebody and wide tires, it can be a race car, drag car or a brilliant drift car - all in one!

The V8 under the hood is great, but to get the needed performance out of the car, the 7.7-liter V12 from the TVR Speed 12 must be swapped in - along with a couple of turbos, all-wheel-drive and a faster transmission. With all these upgrades, the car makes well over 1,000 hp and gets to the end of the runway in just 18.2 seconds - equaling the older Hoonicorn Mustang.

Related: This 750-HP, RTR Spec 5 Mustang Could Be The Ultimate Ford Mustang So Far

8 2011 Hot Wheels Bone Shaker

Autoshow Price: 150,000 CR

The Hot Wheels Bone Shaker may be one of the least-liked cars in Forza Horizon 5 — mostly because it is nearly unstoppable in A-Class races — it makes for a brilliant drag car. Thanks to the relatively light weight, great engine options and those extremely wide rear tires, the Bone Shaker easily dominates most drag races.

Costing just 150,000 CR, the Bone Shaker is one of the more affordable of the cars on this list, but may put some off as it's not exactly a mass production car. Still, when it is fully upgraded, the Hot Wheel completes the one-mile drag in 18.1 seconds. Not bad for something without a roof.

7 2013 Ariel Atom V8 500

Autoshow Price: 200,000 CR

The Ariel Atom is mostly famous for disfiguring Jeremy Clarkson when he drove it in the 2000s, and then nearly disfiguring James May when he had a go in the more powerful Atom V8 500. The V8 500 produces — as guessed — 500 hp and uses a unique engine configuration, which is two motorcycle engines bolted together.

In Horizon 5, the Atom V8 is a bit of a scary thing to drive. The rear wheels are too narrow for all the power, and it's just an overall nerve-racking experience. Upgrade it fully though with all-wheel-drive and drag radials, and it turns into an overactive pocket-rocket that'll bite your hand off if you get it wrong. With the proper tune, it will reach the end of the Aerodromo in just 17.9 seconds.

6 2010 Mosler MT900S

Autoshow Price: 320,000 CR

The Mosler MT900S debuted in Horizon 4, and it quickly became an extremely popular car in almost all aspects of the game. The car returned for Horizon 5 and while it is outclassed in certain areas by newer machinery, it still boasts a mighty impressive show.

The MT900S gets multiple engine options and upgrading the most powerful one and adding all-wheel-drive to this track car — unorthodox, we know — it will blast to the end of the one-mile strip in 17.8 seconds. Not bad at all for what is basically the road-legal version of a track-focused race car.

5 2011 BMW X5 M Forza Edition

Can Only Be Obtained Through VIP Membership

The BMW X5 M Forza Edition is one of the few vehicles that not everyone can get. It is delivered to your garage only when the VIP Membership is purchased — a bit of an annoyance, much like the Ford DeLuxe Forza Edition, which is only available when a Forza-Specific Xbox controller is purchased. Regardless, the X5 M FE is an absolute monster in terms of grip and speed.

The X5 M FE gets an aggressive body kit, lowered racing suspension and a huge wing on the rear. It also gets a score of a perfect 10 in both Acceleration and Launch — the only car to do so from stock. The X5 M FE completes the drag strip in 17.8 seconds — even with all the aero parts still attached.

Related: 10 Muscle Cars That Dominated In Forza Horizon Games

4 2019 Rimac Concept_Two

Autoshow Price: 2,000,000 CR

The Rimac Nevera was recently introduced to Forza Horizon 5, but strangely, the Concept_Two is still the faster vehicle. Sure, the Nevera gets the fun Drift mode, but it is weird that the concept would be faster than the production car. The C_Two is also the only electric car on this list, producing a non-changeable 1,887 hp.

The C_Two gets four electric motors giving it all-wheel-drive, and with drag radials, blasts the car to 60 MPH in just 1.85 seconds and on to a one-mile time of 17.7 seconds. Sadly, it is only let down by the top speed limit inherent with most electric cars.

3 1997 McLaren F1 GT

Autoshow Price: 15,000,000 CR

The McLaren F1 is one of the best cars ever made and the F1 GT was its evil twin, sporting a linger rear end and more track-focused aero parts to help smooth out the airflow over the bodywork. As a result, the F1 GT is slightly faster than the regular F1.

The F1 GT was an absolute monster in Horizon 4, achieving the fastest drag car status for most of the game's lifespan. In Horizon 5 however, it only gets second place in terms of top-speed drag races, completing the one-mile run in 17.5 seconds. Not bad for what is basically the oldest car on this list, as the Hoonicorn is completely rebuilt.

Related: 10 Rare Cars In Forza Horizon 5

2 1999 Lamborghini Diablo GTR

Can Only Be Obtained Through Car Mastery Of 1997 Lamborghini Diablo SV

The Lamborghini Diablo GTR is very much designed and built for track racing in mind, so it is quite a surprise to see it on a list like this. The fact of the matter is, that thanks to the light weight and ridiculous engine swaps, the Diablo GTR makes it to nearly the top of the list - just coming in short by about one tenth of a second behind the Jesko. In fact, the time is so close that it is entirely up to the drivers' launches and gear shifts.

While it takes second place over the full mile drag strip, the Diablo GTR takes the crown in the 0.6-mile race at the Horizon Mexico Festival, completing the run in a time of 11.89 seconds - much faster than most of the nearest competitors. The Lambo is currently one of the best cars to use for drag racing and its crown doesn't seem to be in any danger of being stolen.

1 2020 Koenigsegg Jesko

Autoshow Price: 2,800,000 CR

Finally, the car that not only holds the fastest drag car crown, but also the top speed crown in Forza Horizon 5 — the Koenigsegg Jesko. While the Jesko Absolut exists in real life, it is not yet in Horizon 5, so we have to make due with the track-focused version, the Jesko Attack.

Even with the aero parts to help the car stick to the road, it completes the one-mile Aerodromo Drag Strip in just 17.4 seconds - just under a second faster than the CC8S. This is a record that has stood for a while, and it doesn't quite seem like it would be broken anytime soon.