I’m also an insider and have been following the test posts. The point here is that these tests were done internally, with no possibility of public disclosure. Try to understand that there’s a big difference between a closed test and an open test with many players who aren’t even insiders.
High-level players have equivalent performance, and BoP needs an environment where all players have a similar skill level. From what I’ve seen, the tests weren’t conducted with 24 players sharing the track but rather in a small-scale environment. I’m talking about a large-scale test—understand that.
At no point am I disregarding skill levels; I’m emphasizing the need for them in a test environment that benefits both high-level players and casual ones. For proper adjustments, we can’t base everything on casual players—we need to analyze players of the same skill level. And in the live game, outside of a closed test environment, with the ability to record and share information, players will have more confidence in the process.
Insiders are also consumers, and the public lobby environment is pure chaos. This post is meaningless without actual data—just complaining won’t fix class balance.
Public lobbies are filled with players who are more interested in just playing around or not even focusing on driving properly. Many are just rammers, crashing into others for fun. That doesn’t help at all. That’s exactly why we need players who push the cars to the limit. Or better yet, as you put it,"customers’'—ones who actually provide meaningful feedback.
After 20 years of working on this series, it seems like this company should have long ago established (& iteratively improved) a solid data-driven approach/method for competitively balancing cars (especially within small spec-restricted groups of cars) without the need for customers to pay to test it.
The GTI gives 233kW and 380Nm in telemetry the gti became 2-3 seconds slower per lap… With almost the numbers of the street GTI TCR… I played in Maple Valley and other circuits and in some starts the car dies and the turbo takes a long time to load… before that didn’t happen, you could start 7th and almost get into 1st… apart from that this afternoon I played another one in Sebring and a 308 held up all the way to the finish line, the parallel, something that wouldn’t happen before. And I tried to catch the Elantra and Civic that were in front of me and in the straight they only got ahead of me. Honestly, I don’t like this rebalancing at all. I’m more in favor of the BOP, doing it with respect to the best car, improving the shortcomings of the others.
Take the TCR championships as an example. Since its inception in 2014, the TCR concept has expanded globally, with over 1,000 cars produced and competing in more than 30 different championships worldwide. Despite this extensive real-world data collection, constant adjustments are still necessary to maintain competitive balance.
Comparing data from previous Forza titles to the current one doesn’t make sense either. Each game has its own physics engine, car dynamics, and player base, making past data irrelevant for current balancing purposes. Relying solely on outdated information would lead to inaccurate assessments and poor gameplay experiences.
Therefore, real-world testing with current players is essential for accurate and effective balancing.
So what if the cars are now 2s a lap slower than before? Why does that matter if performance BETWEEN the cars is balanced better? IMO, I don’t think it does.
Ultimately, T10 defined the builds/upgrades. Whether the build itself is liked or not is a different matter. Those involved with the playtest worked with those builds and helped to balance the cars accordingly. The cars don’t need to have the same performance as real life, given that the division is a mixture of BTCC and IMSA TCR’s that raced across different years and never raced to the same rules & regulations as each other.
Many complaints here come from personal experiences, where different tuning setups or varying skill levels could play a role in how a car feels. Without a controlled environment, it’s impossible to get reliable balance data.
A proper way to assess BoP would be through organized, competitive races, where each car model is pushed to its limit by skilled players. Multiple races across different tracks would give a much clearer picture of performance across the touring car division.
Forza could even redirect some of the budget from its McLaren events to fund official spec racing championships for each division. This would not only help fine-tune BoP in a structured way but also reward the community for participating in these races. A win-win for both balance and players.
I hate to call your skill into play here, but are you even using a proper meta tune and what were your exit speeds like compared to them? If your starts are suffering, you need to fix your gearing. No, it will not longer shoot off like a rocket on all the other cars. That is the point. The Golf “might” be a bit weak, but in terms of straightline acceleration and top end, it is about even with everything else. It’s in the corners it may be suffering. If someone is pulling on you, it is because they got a better exit or are using less aero.
I used the Golf today, I was even with the “Elantra” on the straights. It’s not a power problem.
Yes, and a video game is a much more contained (& digital instead of physical) environment where its makers have total visibility into & total control over every variable for every car since they’re the ones who set those variables.
Sorry to say but if a game based on motorsport is the TCR or half of the street cars are not very fine then it leaves a lot to be desired. And if it matters to me that the cars are 2 seconds slower because here it is not only the GTI that came out the most, the most disadvantaged are all of them. We should all have participated in that test or found out at that time in insiders… and the regulations of TCR BTCC or IMSA do not matter as long as the game is based on handling points and the cars do not go well. Because with this revaluation some, since you say that about the regulations, all tend to have 340-380hp depending on the location. And the one who stands out is put on ballast, you do not take away power.
I still race like the days before, in fact I was the only one who has continued with the Golf GTI since the game came out. It’s a matter of skill, it’s a matter of whether some strong point that I had for the car has been removed. The tuning is supposedly the same as before the update but of course the car goes less. What I don’t see well is that the car is 2 or 3 seconds slower and now the others beat you by 10-15 seconds in 7 laps. Because in the end that used to be the same a few days ago with GTI or RS3. And I see that the meta has changed and not the equality sought.
Your argument doesn’t hold much weight because it’s based on assumptions rather than constructive criticism or factual evidence. Comparing a real-world racing series like TCR to a video game environment oversimplifies the complexities of game development. The Touring Car category in Forza isn’t meant to strictly mirror TCR or any specific real-world regulation—it’s a grouping of similar vehicles for fun and variety. That said, BoP (Balance of Performance) is being applied in multiplayer racing to ensure fair competition within this diverse category. If you’re going to criticize, at least provide constructive feedback or evidence to support your claims. Otherwise, this discussion feels pointless and unproductive.
The change is recent, we need to let it sink in and the 20 or 30 minutes races this thursday will help paint a clearer picture. As a Subaru driver, the car feels slower (to me) but I’ve seen as many winning cars as races I’ve been in. Overall it’s pretty close.
As stated a million times before, I wish the community would be involved (and by that I mean the top and most dedicated players) to create quick changes because I feel like whatever happens, won’t be before next update.
I agree that having the ability to apply BoP in freeplay and private races would be a huge improvement. Trying to balance cars manually under constantly changing conditions is frustrating and time-consuming. It’s something that would make organizing events or testing setups much more accessible.
That said, there’s also a growing demand for more robust customization options, like the ability to create and share custom championships. For example, this post on the Forza forums (Custom Championships/Cups in Free Play mode) highlights a similar idea, but with a focus on building and sharing custom championships. People want to create their own competitions, set up teams, adjust car performance and tuning, and more. While the original post doesn’t mention BoP specifically, many comments in the thread echo the need for better control over car balancing and event customization.
Adding these features would not only improve the competitive aspect of the game but also give players more tools to create unique and engaging experiences. Hopefully, the developers take note of these requests and consider implementing them in future updates.
This conversation, among many others like the Skill Rating, reinforces my belief that even though this may not be the most popular Forza Motorsport ever, there is still a strong nucleus of players dedicated to improve it. And obviously there are the many players who never come to the forums but play frequently and contribute albeit silently.
There are many of us who want to improve this game but the development team is slow to listen to us.
I, after a year and a half, continue to have random crashes and the lack of attention to the organisation of ‘private’ multiplayer events makes Turn10 seem disconnected from today’s reality, where what makes a game popular is the growing community and the events created by the players.
I organised a Touring Cars championship just recently, imagining a similar leveling to public multiplayer, but going out on the track feels like racing with three different categories of cars depending on which car you drive.
Let’s hope that the May update really does bring big news.