My FH5 Log: Quartet JUNK

Christmas celebrations in Forza Horizon 5 are officially ruined because of the arrival of The Four Horsemen of the Scrap-o-calypse. 

Four older-generation luxury cars have invaded Horizon Mexico to darken our Yuletide celebrations. Who are this update's nightmares during the Christmas celebration?

Week 1 of the Horizon Holidays Mix-up saw the first horseman of the scrap-o-calypse: the third-generation Bentley Flying Spur. The last W12-powered Flying Spur.

Week 2 saw the arrival of the Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG Wagon. This German junk is powered by a supercharged 5.4L V8 engine producing 469HP of power and 516ft-lb of torque. This is more than your auntie's basic W211 E-Class saloon.

Week 3 shocked Bimmer fanatics in Forza with the wrong M5. It's the previous-generation F90 M5 CS. This limited-edition M5 is based on the facelifted F90 M5 and is the first to have four seats. The tuned 4.4L V8 Twin Turbo engine produces 627HP of power and 553ft-lb of torque, sprinting form 0-60-mph in 2.9 seconds and a top speed of 190mph, making it the fastest-accelerating M saloon ever made.

Lastly, the final week of the Horizon Holidays Mix-up brought us another "clunker" wagon; the Cadillac CTS-V Sport Wagon. Even in its estate setting, it carries the same features from the CTS-V sedan and coupe such as control arm front suspension, Multi-Link rear suspension, Brembo brakes, dual-mode Magnetic Ride Control, Bose 5.1 surround sound system, standard navigation system, and a choice of two transmission types; a 6-speed 6L90 automatic or a 6-speed Tremec TR-6060 manual. It even packs a supercharged 6.2L V8 engine from the C6 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, producing 556hp power and 550ft-lb of torque.

It's time to unleash the ghosts of Christmas past around Horizon Mexico. These four horsemen of the scrapyard are going to give us a taste of what they're made of.

Welcome to the dark side of the Horizon Holidays.

It's typical Forza. They've shunned the evolution of automobiles and shocked the younger generation of car enthusiasts by dumping older-generation cars into games like Forza Horizon 5. As the year 2025 approaches with nothing from the Forza producers, I guess this is what they called the death kneel.

That's right. The Forza franchise is officially DEAD in 2025 because none of the games featured every single 2025 Model Year vehicle. This means that the new Forza Motorsport game and Forza Horizon 5 are the last Forza games they'll ever make as the Forza franchise is set to permanently close its doors in 2025.

I just remembered: the Horizon Extremes update next week will have just one prize car, and it's a rotten piece of junk from the depths of the inferno: the DeBerti Chevrolet C10 Slayer. Still, this is the beginning of the end—the end of not just Forza Horizon 5 but THE END OF THE FORZA FRANCHISE.

Good luck enjoying the final days of the Forza franchise. It was a fun racing franchise while it lasted...

BMW 8-Series Gran Coupe vs. Bentley Flying Spur (3rd gen)

Does the BMW 8-Series need to have a four door version even though we already have today's 5-Series? For the people behind them, "ja, wir konnen", and with that they made a variant that shouldn't be existed in the first place but they did because a few people wanted something better looking and better to drive than their F30 5-Series. Is the new 8-Series Gran Coupe the ideal alternative to the 5-Series or not?

2020 BMW 8-Series Gran Coupe

With prices start at 91,500 Euros plus on road costs, the first-ever BMW 8-Series Gran Coupe is more expensive than its 5-Series twin but since these so-called twins belonged to a different league, the 8-Series Gran Coupe was designed to take on the likes on the Porsche Panamera, Audi A7, and the Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class as it means it. In fact, it's blatant to call this Gran Coupe the evil twin of the 5-Series because it does a lot more than that.

Because it's got four doors instead of the usual two like you get in the normal 8-Series, the Gran Coupe is made to accomodate VIPs at the back without squeezing through like they do with their two-door equivalents and because it is longer than the 5-Series, it's got slightly more room as well, meaning your VIP has some space to snooze about after reading this morning's newspaper.

Drive or be driven? Of course you can drive in it especially the 8-Series Gran Coupe comes solely with a 4.4L V8 TwinPower Turbo engine producing 530PS of power and 750Nm of torque and when mated to an 8-speed AT, it does 0-100kph in less than four seconds and top speed electronically limited to 250kph. And like the other 8-Series relatives, the Gran Coupe comes standard with the xDrive intelligent all-wheel-drive with electronically controlled differential lock can adapt through various road conditions like it can recognize any road conditions with precision. Couple that with the ideal weight distribution, low center of gravity, Adaptive M suspension, Integral Active Steering, and the result is a fast four-door saloon that enjoys taking things easily while cruising around town in style and comfort no doubt.

The Gran Coupe really sets itself apart from the 5-Series apart because of its style and performance but because it was based on the reborn 8-Series that is not what the BMW fans hoped for, they believed it wasn't enough because if it wants to be more than just a 5-Series carbon copy, perhaps they should look some inspiration from something else...

2020 Bentley Flying Spur

This is the 168,300 Pound, all-new Bentley Flying Spur, and like the BMW 8-Series Gran Coupe, it's based on the same stuff found in today's Bentley Continental GT, but unlike the 8-Series Gran Coupe, it's powered by a 626bhp 6.0L W12 engine mated to an 8-speed automatic gearbox, making it capable of hitting a 0-60mph time of 3.7 seconds and a top speed of 207mph. That's more than enough to crush the 8-Series Gran Coupe into the wall of shame.

And like the Continental GT, the new Flying Spur comes with a wide array of features that will keep this heavyweight limo rolling for more action such as torque vectoring, adaptive suspension, and active differential. Even with the traction control system on, it's like something so wrong feels so right all along. It maybe fit for Queen and Country but for some thrills, the new Flying Spur feels like an action hero car in disguise and it easily body-shames the 8-Series Gran Coupe by a margin.

Anyway, enough body-shaming because with such pricing, it's best for people to make do with the 5-Series' evil twin, Either way, both the 8-Series Gran Coupe and the new Flying Spur are one of the most exciting sports saloons to get jealous for because of the style, performance, and comfort worth a million likes.

Photo: BMW/Bentley