DLC Spotlight: Forza Horizon 3 Playseat car pack

Earlier this week, Forza Horizon 3 players were treated to an update which contained the Playseat car pack. What I found particularly thrilling about this content update is that it not only features one, but two new hot hatches to play around with! If you were not already aware, I am a huge fan of hot hatches. In that case, I thought it would be appropriate to let the tricked-out grocery-getters take centre stage in this spotlight article.

2016 Vauxhall Corsa VXR

Now in it's fifth generation, the Vauxhall Corsa E fuses the underpinnings of the popular fourth generation Corsa D with the fashionable styling features of the Vauxhall Adam premium city car to create a more up-to-date and trendy B-segment vehicle. It should come as no surprise the VXR featured in the Playseat car pack is an evolution of the Corsa VXR featured in older Forza titles, including Forza Horizon 2. I mean, why mess with a formula that has provided a competitive car in previous games?

Rated at 207 horsepower, the modest power output places the Corsa near the top end of C class, allowing the Corsa to square up with the Clio RS 200 and Ford Fiesta ST. With its short wheelbase, the Corsa VXR is a playful little machine, particularly around the loose surfaces of Blizzard mountain. Add some bright green paint, large alloys plus aggressive styling features and you have one of the most intimidating cars among the lower classes in Forza Horizon 3.  

2016 Honda Civic Type R

The cool thing about the FN2 Type R is that unlike the Corsa which evolved from is predecessor, the high performance Civic rewrote the rule book on what the Type R badge should signify. The moderately sporty styling was axed in favour of a road-hugging wide bodykit, red highlights, gaping quad exhausts finished off with a massive rear wing. The exuberant styling gives you the impression the Civic Type R is a British Touring Car built for the road! 

Its racing pedigree doesn't end with bonkers styling; The Turbocharged 2.0 engine is capable of producing 306 horsepower and is able to shift the Civic around the Nurburgring in under 8 minutes, putting the likes of the Ferrari F430 and Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 to shame. Seeing as Forza Horizon 3 only features the track-ready versions of those cars (Scuderia and Superleggera respectively) which are S1-tier machines, the Civic which leaves the Autoshow as a Class A competitor will need some performance tweaks to outshine the supercars of yesteryear around Australia. Make no mistake though, this is still a mighty weapon from the get-go.

Playseat car pack: More info

The two hot hatches weren't the only contemporary machines to hatch from the Playseat pack, the Aston Martin DB11 and Cadillac ATS-V mark their debut in the Forza Series. Elsewhere in the pack, you can find the sleek, rear-engined Alpine GTA Le Mans and HDT VK Commodore Group A, a tribute to an iconic Australian touring car. Last but not least, there is the Honda S800 - the original roadster with such a lively engine that can make you feel you are going a million miles an hour at road legal speeds.

Oh yeah, one final thing worth mentioning in this update is the alterations to wheelspins. The good news is that there are new Horizon Edition cars up for grabs including the Supra Mk4, Escort RS Cosworth and Challenger Hellcat. The bad news is that if you can't wait to level up and wish to pay for wheelspins instead, you have to pay 70,000 credits; up from 50,000 credits before the update. However, I'm not going to end on a bad note - the wheelspins have been reworked so that the player is not awarded with cars already in their garage, so there is a higher chance you will have something new to play with!