Whilst the Forza Motorsport games are no more, the Turn 10 Studios influence is present in the newest Playground Games open world instalment Forza Horizon 6, with plenty of racetracks worth making the journey to race at.
When it was announced that the next stop for the Forza Horizon series would be Japan, many in the community jumped for joy. Whilst its track-focused older sibling Forza Motorsport has been put on indefinite ice, Horizon has been a hit and FH6 has already become the most played racing game on Steam.
With those who got the Standard or Deluxe Editions on PC and Xbox Series X|S now able to play, we noticed a few locations that harken back somewhat to the good old days of Forza Motorsport. Across the map there are a bunch purpose-built motor racing tracks.
So if you enjoy visiting racetracks, here are all the locations that avid track day enthusiasts will want to visit.
Hokubu Circuit
Towards the northeastern part of the map, just above the peninsula where there are three stretches of road going over water, there is a dedicated racetrack to be found. It may not be a Suzuka, Fuji or Motegi but Hokubu is still quite an enjoyable little layout.
It is not a long lap by any means, it can be done in less than a minute in a car of decent speed. The first two corners have noticeable undulation but it is the last few corners of the lap that are especially satisfying to get right. It is also a location where you can take part in a time attack, which is not accessible immediately before completing the Horizon Qualifiers for every location with a time attack.
The circuit racers amongst us will be more than happy with this short but relentless ribbon of tarmac. Image: Playground Games
To find this venue, you will notice on the far eastern side of the map a body of water enclosed by a bit of land with a small crevice to the sea. The track is located on the North West side, a good indicator that you are in the right place are two sets of road bridges running over the water, the track is not far from either of them.
So if you are just wanting to mess around with friends and you are not wanting the pesky traffic getting in the way, Hokubu is an ideal location for some friendly racing. But if you have a taste for the mud, the next one on this list will satisfy your needs.
Sekibe Circuit
Located right at the most southeastern point of the map is Legend Island, which is locked off initially. But if you make the journey there and are annoyed that you cannot access it, fear not as you are not far from a dirt track. Head north and take the first dirt road turnoff, keep going and you will find yourself at Sekibe Circuit.
The track features multiple layouts, though it does have cones blocking the alternative portions in order to determine the exact layout used for the time attack. Unlike Hokubu's time attack though, it is locked until you progress further in the story. But there is another reason to visit even if you do not intend to lap the track.
Make sure your handbrake is mapped to take the corners at this rough surface course. Image: Playground Games
When you go to the pit building on the right if you come from the closed off access point to Legend Island, there you can find a modified Mitsubishi Evo X. There are many other cars that can be found all over the map for purchase, with this Evo having the rally car style headlights and other aftermarket options not on the regular version.
Plus, there is no more fitting car you can drive around a dirt course than a road going rally car, right?
Shimanoyama Drift Circuit
No surprise that there is a bespoke track for drifting, considering Japan is one of the most prominent countries when it comes to drifting. Shimanoyama is even shorter than the already tiny Hokubu. If anything, it resembles more a kart track than anything of the others on this list, but it has really pronounced elevation change.
Its tight and compact nature might not make it the best place to drive very powerful cars, which is probably why you can purchase an aftermarket Honda Beat (truly a beat up Honda) kei car nearby. By all means you can try some close quarters racing with some bigger cars here but you might have a better experience pushing some stacked shelves up a flight of stairs over multiple stories.
Shimanoyama has very pronounced elevation change in the first few sets of corners. Image: Playground Games
Ultimately, it is perhaps better to stick to some synchronised drifting at this track, and there are of course many cars in FH6 that lend themselves well to this, like the Formula Drift cars. The long radius of corners can provide the perfect place to do tandem drifting, and it is just simply a very enjoyable track. It is located in the relatively central of the map, if you are coming in from the west side, you will see it on your left before a turn off.
Soni Circuit
Now for the last and possibly best of all the initially available tracks in the game, the Soni circuit is only a little bit to the north of Hokubu cand not only is it just a joy to drive, it is teamed with the most perfect view of both Mt. Fuji and Tokyo. This is the same track that many will recognise from one of the first FH6 gameplay deep dive videos.
Its layout looks relatively simple, but unlike the previous entry on this list, it is at least big enough to go racing in any car. After the first two proper corners, it drops down into a hairpin which is perfect for a sneaky divebomb, but be wary of the driver behind desperately trying to for a lunge into the next corner which really is too tight to get two cars around.
Even more undulating than the Hokubu circuit, Soni is perhaps the perfect spot for a bit of drifting. Image: Playground Games
But the highlight of the track is without doubt the quadruple apex last corner, it is extremely satisfying to get right. There is even a little pit area like on all these tracks that you can dive into, though the facilities do look a bit like the ones at the old Rouen-Les-Essarts track in France. This has to be our personal pick for best track of the four in-game that are available when you first boot up the game.
However, many people within the community began to speculate about a racetrack on the initially inaccessible Legend Island. Well the rumours are true, and it really is worth the grind to get there.
Legend Island Circuit
If this is not motivation enough to get gold wristband status, we're not sure what is. Every track up until this point has been very tight and compact, but the Legend Island Circuit is the first one to be truly about power and speed. It has quite clearly been modelled on the Magarigawa Club resort circuit, a track which gained notoriety as it seemed to have been pulled straight from a console racing game.
We simply had to feature it even though none of us have made it far enough into the game in order to drive it, but we certainly will be trying after this. The Legend Island circuit not only features high speed corners and a tunnel section, a small portion of the track is suspended on segments above the sea. You would never find a racetrack in real life with this feature, since it would be near impossible to retrieve a stranded car. Then again, IndyCar raced across Nashville's Korean War Veterans Memorial Bridge for the Music City Grand Prix from 2021 to 2023.
So that is all of the racetracks that can be found and driven in Forza Horizon 6. If you are wanting to visit these places, find them circled on the image of the map below and if you want to check out all of our Forza Horizon content, we will link to some helpful ones.
All the locations for each place listed here circled in red, feel free to go check them out yourselves! Image: Playground Games
Which locations do you intend to visit first in your playthrough of Forza Horizon 6? Let us know in the comments below and join the discussion in our FH6 forum!