How to change difficulty in Forza Motorsport

You may want to make your races harder.

A grid of cars prepare for a race at night in Forza Motorsport.
Screenshot by Dot Esports.

Forza Motorsport has varying levels of challenge to test yourself with, but how do you change difficulty in the game?

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Unlike many other games, the difficulty settings in Forza Motorsport are vast and spread into several areas, with a base difficulty setting and the ability to make your challenge harder or easier by tweaking the assists available.

Forza Motorsport can be as easy or as difficult as you like, but you need to know exactly how to tweak your difficulty settings in order to find the perfect balance.

How to change difficulty in Forza Motorsport

The difficulty options in Forza Motorsport and the bonuses they provide.
A harder test brings greater rewards. Screenshot by Dot Esports.

There are two ways to change difficulty in Forza Motorsport, which can affect various parts of your driving experience in the game.

The first is via the Forza Motorsport difficulty settings, which show in the menu before a race, where you can choose a “Drivatar Difficulty” from one to eight. A higher number sees AI opponents achieve faster lap times.

A ruleset bonus can also be selected, which changes the settings for damage, the ability to rewind, and how penalties are given in the game.

Changing any of these settings affects the Bonus you can earn in Credits for completing races, though you must finish in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place to claim the Drivatar Difficulty Bonus.

You can see the details for the three options in the table below.

Club Rules– Cosmetic Damage Only
– Rewind ON
– Limited Penalties
– 2 percent Credit bonus
Sport Rules– Simulated Fuel & Tires
– Rewind ON
– Moderate Penalties
– 6 percent Credit bonus
Expert Rules– Simulated Damage, Fuel & Tires
– Rewind OFF
– Full Penalties
– 10 percent Credit Bonus

Further adjustments can be made to increase or reduce the difficulty through the Settings menu and navigating to the “Driving Assists” section. Here, you can make tweaks that affect everything from whether a racing line shows, whether ABS is on, and whether gear changes are automatic or manual.

However, unlike previous Forza Motorsport titles, any changes made in the Driving Assists Settings do not impact the amount of Credits you earn from completing races and are merely there as options for different levels of simulation.

Author
Image of Josh Challies
Josh Challies
Staff Writer. Professional writer since 2014. Pokemon, Marvel, Star Wars and overall geek. Previously wrote for Yahoo Sport, Stats Perform and online news publications.