My FH5 Log: The real Horizon Race-Off

With the seventh-generation Mustang and the Ford F-150 Raptor R already in every Forza Horizon 5 player's garage, the time has come for the real Horizon Race-Off to begin.

Throughout the Horizon Race-Off series update on FH5, players worldwide raced through different road and dirt tracks to gain access to these modern-day Blue Oval heroes. The pro-asphalt aimed for the all-new Mustang while the pro-offroad worked hard to get the F-150 Raptor R. As the goals were met, they've got the chance to try them both but the real question is, which one is the best?

Being an idiot savant myself, I've sent the Mustang and the F-150 on a best-of-three match to determine the winner. The first match will be...

The Airport Cross Country Circuit. This abandoned airfield is the Raptor's advantage because being Built Ford Tough, it will be smooth sailing for it. Let's roll the tape.

F-150 Raptor R - 1m08.585s

Ford Mustang '24 - 1m11.672s

So, the F-150 Raptor R wins Game 1 but there's still time for the Mustang to shine because Game 2 will be this.

The Lookout Circuit is located outside the Horizon Rush site. This bone-shaped asphalt course will showcase the all-new Mustang's improved dynamics. Let's roll the tape.

F-150 Raptor R - 1m12.439s

Ford Mustang '24 - 1m05.566

The Mustang wins Game 2, making this match a stalemate. With both Blue Ovals won, it's time for the winner-take-all finale to determine which Ford is the best. Although it's hard to determine which venue will be, there's only one choice...

Race to the Horizon Mexico Festival site. Whichever the fastest Ford to arrive at the main festival gate is the winner. Think of it like the final duel on the game show Physical 100 but this is Forza Horizon 5. No rope-pulling, no pole-dropping, no limits. It's just two modern-day Fords the community worked hard to obtain throughout the Horizon Race-Off series update. Let the battle commence.

GO!

F-150 Raptor R - 3m11.408s

Ford Mustang '24 - 2m57.528s

The all-new 2024 Ford Mustang is the winner!

The Horizon Race-Off is finished, but having proved that cars like the Mustang and the F-150 are extremely debatable, rivalries will go on. Win or lose, they're all in this together.

Being pro-asphalt or pro-offroad, it makes no difference because in a game like Forza Horizon 5, ANYTHING GOES. That is the bottom line.

Let's Do The News! (April 25, 2024)

                              

Your daily round-up of today's news...

- A magnitude 5.4 quake hits Davao Oriental. According to PHIVOLCS, the quake's epicenter is in the northeast part of Baganga just 74km away.

- Luzon and Visayas grids are on yellow alert as of Thursday, April 25, according to NGCP.

- Four people died as China's Guandong province was hit by floods from the strongest rainfall experienced in the province since 1959.

- US President Joe Biden has signed into law the $95 billion foreign aid package for Israel and Ukraine, saying "it's going to make the world safer".

- Violence spreads at US universities over pro-Palestinian protests. US House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, confronts students, calling the protests anti-Semitic and demanding they stop, while protesters fear loss of free speech.

- Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez halts official duties to consider resigning after his wife is investigated for corruption.

- IndyCar announced penalties for Team Penske, including disqualifications for Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin and a 10-point penalty for Will Power from the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg due to software violation. Newgarden's disqualification means second placer Pato O'Ward was promoted as the winner of the season opener in St. Petersburg, Florida.

- The Lamborghini Urus SE was unveiled. The new version of the Urus has PHEV tech implanted in its 4.0L V8 twin-turbo engine, resulting in 800PS of power output, and has a top speed of 312kph.

2025 Lamborghini Urus SE

- The first-ever all-electric Mini Aceman was unveiled.

2025 Mini Aceman

- The Skoda Vision Gran Turismo was unveiled and it's set to be a playable car in the newest Gran Turismo 7 update.

Skoda Vision Gran Turismo Concept

- Seiyuu Takaaki Seki dies at the age of 54.

- HYBE has shared an interim report about the audit of ADOR. HYBE announced that a formal accusation will be filed against ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin and related individuals for occupational breach of trust.

- The Chicago Bears unveiled a $5bn plan for an enclosed stadium near Soldier Field as part of a major project that would transform the city's lakefront, and they are asking for public funding to help make it happen.

TTFN.

MY FH5 Log: Supreme Version

JLR's Special Vehicles Operations are widely known for producing their strongest take on the company's luxury cars. By making them unique, implanting them with supercharged V8 power, and giving them sports-tuned dynamics, the SV cars are as supreme as...Gaia in his SV form. Plus Ultra.

As the supercharged V8 engine era of JLR is drawing to its bittersweet end, it's time to pay tribute to the SVO's supreme masterpieces.

The Range Rover Sport SVR is based on the second-generation Range Rover Sport. It's infamous for being used by Spectre goons in the James Bond film series. It has the same supercharged 5.0L V8 engine as the Jaguar F-Type R, producing 550HP of power and 502ft-lb of torque.

The Jaguar F-Type Project 7 is a limited-edition model that pays tribute to the legendary D-Type race car. The supercharged 5.0L V8 engine was upgraded to produce 575hp of power. Because it lost nearly 190lbs compared to the base V8 F-Type R Convertible, it's faster as well. Only 250 units were made and sold worldwide.

The Jaguar F-Type SVR, obtained from the Horizon Race-Off Hot Season Playlist, is no doubt the most powerful series production F-Type ever made. Premiered at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show, the SVR's 5.0L V8 supercharged engine produces 567hp of power and 700Nm of torque. Little-known trivia is that then-Top Gear host Rory Reid drove the F-Type SVR to the Geneva Motor Show.

Obtained from the game's Acceleration Car Pack, the Jaguar XE SV Project 8 is the most powerful Jaguar ever made. The 5.0L V8 supercharged engine has reached its peak 600hp output. Only 300 were made and offered in three different versions; the four-seater with front Performance seats with magnesium frames, the two-seater Track Pack, and a subtle Touring variant. As production of the Jaguar XE SV Project 8 ended, it set a Nurburgring Nordschleife lap record of 7m18.361s.

Time to give the JLR's supercharged V8 power the supreme farewell by comparing four SVO models around the cathedral, finding out which one is the supreme being. Let's roll the tape.

And now the results...

RRS - 1m12.422s

Project 7 - 1m09.036s

F-Type SVR - 1m06.083s

XE Project 8 - 1m04.431s

The most powerful Jaguar ever made is the supreme leader after all.

It's a real shame that the glorious roar of the supercharged V8 engine has reached its endgame in the age of the new normal but even in the end, the JLR SVO performed the supreme task of making the most insane vehicles that existed. This is true British grit the world will never forget.

The road and track are the stars of SVO.

EPILOGUE

Since the Jaguar XE SV Project 8 is the supreme compared to the other JLR SVO models offered in Forza Horizon 5, it's time to give the most powerful Jaaag the best send-off it deserves, and this means...BLAST FROM THE PAST.

Hello again, Mahiru Kasumi. I hope your reprise fits well.

With the XE Project 8 reprising the role of Aikatsu Stars' Mahiru Kasumi during my Horizon Australia days with the base XE, it's time for its final act in an EventLab re-enactment of Lydden Hill, curated by a certain Forza fan named Fod13xbox. Let's roll the tape.

Here it is, the last Romance Kiss it will never forget.

The Jaguar XE Project 8 has completed its final mission. The days of the supercharged V8 power is officially perished but the roar lives on forever.

Mission Accomplished.

Let's Do The News! (April 24, 2024)

                             

Your daily round-up of today's news...

- PH Vice President Sara Duterte thanked the PBBM administration for the continued trust as DepEd Secretary.

- Face-to-face classes in public and private schools at all levels in Manila are suspended until Friday. In the announcement by Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna, this is due to the city's estimated 44°C heat index.

- Former PH senator Rene Saguisag passed away at the age of 84.

- The yellow alert status on the Mindanao grid was lifted by the NGCP.

- The ongoing 'hush money" trial on Donald Trump hears how tabloid used the "catch and kill" scheme to bury stories about him before the 2016 presidential election. Right now, the prosecutors want the judge to punish Trump for violating the trial gag order.

- The Israeli military has rejected accusations that its forces buried the bodies of Palestinians at a medical compound in Gaza.

- The Mercedes-Benz G580 was unveiled. It's the first-ever all-electric G-Wagen that features a signature tank turn and a 587PS quad-motor setup capable of 473km of driving range.

 

2025 Mercedes-Benz G580

- smart displayed the Concept #5 at the Beijing Auto Show.

- The ONE PIECE Netflix show named Joe Tracz as its showrunner for next season.

TTFN.

Let's Do The News! (April 23, 2024)

                            

Your daily round-up of today's news...

- The Presidential Communications Office refuted the circulated video that PH President Bongbong Marcos already ordered the AFP to fight a foreign country, saying deepfake was used on the said video.

- The Philippine Navy is monitoring the surge of Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea.

- Donald Trump is accused of "pure election" fraud in his second hush money trial. Defense lawyers told jurors in New York there was no crime and the former US president Donald Trump is "cloaked in innocence". 

- The Ecuadorean police arrest fugitive gang leader Fabricio Colón Pico.

- The facelifted Porsche Cayenne Mk3 received a GTS variant with an improved 4.0L V8 engine producing 500PS of power.

2025 Porsche Cayenne GTS

- Kia teases its upcoming Tasman pickup truck.

- Lamborghini is teasing an improved Urus coming this April 24th.

- The second-generation Opel/Vauxhall Grandland was unveiled.

2025 Vauxhall Grandland

- Kim Yun Jee announces her pregnancy. Kim Yun Jee’s agency Sublime shared, “Kim Yun Jee is pregnant after three years of marriage. She is due to give birth in July.”

- Apink's Yoon Bomi, Black Eyed Pilseung's Rado long-term relationship revealed

TTFN.

Let's Do The News! (April 22, 2024)

                           

Your daily round-up of today's news...

- The Philippine and US militaries have commenced this year's Balikatan exercises.

- 19 cars in the NAIA Terminal 3 parking lot caught fire.

- Iloilo is placed in a "state of calamity" due to the water crisis caused by El Niño.

- Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu vows to reject any US sanctions on the Israeli military. Netanyahu called the possible sanctions the height of absurdity. Last weekend, the US House of Representatives passed the bill calling for more military aid funding to Israel.

- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says the new US package of military aid could help Ukraine turn the tide in the war against Russia.

- The Mercedes-AMG GT63S E Performance was unveiled. The 4.0L V8 Twin Turbo engine has been given a PHEV setup, boosting the power to 816PS and 1420 of torque.

2025 Mercedes-AMG GT63S E Performance

- The Aston Martin DBX 707 received a DB12-inspired interior for the 2025 model year. The base DBX was dropped, leaving only the DBX 707 as the sole variant.

2025 Aston Martin DBX 707

- Embracer Group reveals plans to split into three companies with the Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends company owning Dark Horse Comics and PLAION Pictures.

- Himitsu no AiPri TV anime casts Yurika Kubo as Tsumugi Suzukaze.

- Simon Dominic has left AOMG after 10 years.

- K-pop girl group Cherry Bullet announced their disbandment.

TTFN.

2024 NASCAR Cup Series - GEICO 500

Talladega Superspeedway is the next stop for the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series with the GEICO 500. From start to finish, the insanity and chaos in store during the race are textbook NASCAR stuff.

As the green flag waved, the action in 'Dega is on. Stage 1 saw BJ McLeod get into the wall from the lead and forced to pit by himself on Lap 40, followed by Denny Hamlin spinning on Lap 44, entering the pits with the other Toyota drivers. As Austin Cindric won Stage 1, Stage 2 saw some bold moves from Shane Van Gisbergen's oval race debut, and with Joey Logano winning Stage 2, the final stage saw chaos with Christopher Bell spinning at the stack-up on Lap 134, followed by Erik Jones, Denny Hamlin, and Bubba Wallace got caught in a Lap 157 incident.

Screengrab from NASCAR

As Michael McDowell's final lap incident caused Josh Berry and Corey La Joie caught in a climactic multi-car crash, Tyler Reddick wins the GEICO 500 of the NASCAR Cup Series! A win for 23XI Racing and the new Toyota stock car!

The next race is at Dover Motor Speedway for the Würth 400 this April 28th.