Forza Horizon 5 Gear Tuning with Forzatune Pro
Why Tune Gears?
You want to choose gears that keep your engine spinning in a sweet spot known as the power band. This gives you the best acceleration from your engine even as you change vehicle speed.
As you upgrade your car you may find that the old gears no longer match the new power band.
What Is The Power Band Exactly?
The power band is the range of rpm values where you maximize acceleration. It starts where maximum torque happens and typically goes up to the maximum engine speed.
When engines have max torque at a low rpm the power band is much wider.
It's the type of engine that will throw you back in your seat immediately like a big V8 or a quickly spooling turbo. And if the engine can breathe well that acceleration will keep pulling until you shift.
For these engines it is less important to get gearing perfect.
When Gearing Matters Most
The engines with a max torque rpm much higher in the rev range are the ones where gearing is especially important. Classic examples would be Honda engines like in the S2000. Fall out of the power band and you will have trouble keeping up with a minivan.
How to Tune Gears in Forza Horizon 5 and Earlier
The math behind gearing can be a bit confusing. You can do it by hand looking at the graph, but it takes about 1/10th of the time if you use a gearing calculator like ForzaTune Pro.
So let's break down the steps you need when tuning gears.
Time Needed: 5 minutes
Required tools:
Steps for Gear Tuning in Forza
If your vehicle does not have major upgrades or engine swaps you can most likely skip the full transmission tuning (race transmission) and install a sports transmission instead.
Raise final drive for more acceleration on shorter circuits. Lower final drive for more top speed.
If you do have significant upgrades or the stock gears are more for fuel economy (think 90s sports cars) continue to step 2.
If this is not an option then your vehicle likely supports gearing changes by default.
Jump over to the power upgrade section and select any type of engine upgrade that will show the power and torque graph. Toggle the display (usually Y Button) until you can see details like weight and max torque.
Select a previously Saved Tune or create a New Tune from the main menu and enter details for your vehicle. Select Include Gearing Tune at the bottom and hit Next. This will take you to the gearing screen.
Click Power Band in the app and then use the diagram below to match values to what the app needs.
You will want to copy max torque and select whether the vehicle has forced induction such as a turbo or supercharger.
Number of gears will usually be 6. If in later steps you find out the car has more come back and change them to quickly recalculate.
Tire size will be found in the tire upgrade screen.
Simulation values can also be found in any upgrade screen where you change parts. You may need to toggle the display (usually Y button) until you see them.
The simulation values need not be exact. They help the calculator estimate the car's potential.
In ForzaTune hit Next to see your results. And in Forza go to the tuning menu to start making changes.
Copy your values as shown in the app to the tuning menu in Forza.
The gearing calculations make sure your car is always in the power band and it is not recommended to change the forward gears (1-6+).
But it is recommended you adjust final drive to suit your goals. By default the app tries to find a balance between top speed and acceleration.
For best acceleration like drag racing: increase the final drive to get the lowest 0-100 mph or 160 km/h time.
For top speed runs: decrease final drive values until the simulated top speed hits a max.
Want to see an example from start to finish? Check out a Forza Horizon 4 tutorial video below: