What do you think when you hear, “I’ve got another cheap car to buy”? Does the phrase conjure up images of trashed Nissan 240SXs or turbo diesels? Whatever it is, it probably isn’t something you’d want to drive around, at least not without some extensive repairs and modifications. But sometimes, when you don’t have the money for a nice car or the mods to make it nice, you’re forced to go the cheap route.
Such is the case when starting Forza Horizon 4, or when you’re trying to save up for one of the castles you can buy in the game. Fortunately, the developers were nice enough to put some pretty decent cheap cars in game that can take you far, no matter what you’re into. Below we’ve outlined our five favorite cars for under 50,000 credits and what they’re best for. If you can’t or don’t want to spend a lot of money, these are the cars for you.
Speed: 2002 Chevy Corvette Z06 — 35,000 Credits
We’ll be honest with you, speed is the hardest thing to come by without much coin. You won’t find any supercars for under 50,000 credits, but that doesn’t mean that every cheap car has a lawnmower engine. With a speed rating of 7.7, this Corvette has the highest rating of all the cheap cars. It may not get you to three stars on all of the speed traps, but we were able to get it up to 175 mph pretty easily in stock form, so there’s plenty of speed to be had.
Drifting: 1998 Nissan Silvia K’s Aero — 25,000 Credits
If it’s good enough for Matt Powers, it’s good enough for us. It’s pretty much that simple. Not only is this the cheapest car on the list, but it's only 5,000 credits away from the absolute floor of car prices in Horizon. When it comes to drift cars, it doesn’t get cheaper than this. Yes, the car as shown above has the Rocket Bunny kit on it, which costs north of 100,000 credits, but you’d want to upgrade any car, no matter how cheap or expensive, to help it get sideways. (Aside the Formula Drift car pack cars, which are in a whole other category.) Since you’ll pretty much need to dump in a ton of money for upgrades no matter the car, why not start with the cheapest base possible? The stock form can get sideways, too.
Fitting Into Tight Spaces: 1957 BMW Isetta 300 Export — 45,000 Credits
You may be saying, why is this important? Well, it turns out the devs at Playground Games like to put reward boards in hard-to-reach places, including some spots that a normal-sized car can’t reach. If you want to find them, this is the most cost-effective way to do it. Plus, imagine the look on people’s faces when you drive by them in a car the size of a dirt bike. It’s the simple joys that make life so wonderful.
Racing: 2018 Ford Mustang GT — 40,000 Credits
If you’re looking to win races and progress through the game as cheaply as possible, this is the car to do it in. It has the best stock performance number of any car under 50,000 credits, with a rating of A 778. From speed to launch and handling, it can hold its own against much more expensive cars, and with a simple engine swap, you can even bump it up to the S1 class if you’d like. Ford has done a good job making enthusiast cars recently — at least until they stopped— so it makes sense that would be reflected in the game.
Cross Country: 1970 Volkswagen #1107 Desert Dingo Racing Stock Bug — 25,000 Credits
If you want to gallivant through the hills on a budget, this is the car for you. Honestly, there aren’t that many great off-roaders for cheap, with most of the inexpensive ones having about the same level of performance as the Isetta. This one isn’t going to win any drag races against the Corvette, but it has enough oomph to hold its own against the other cars it races against. The suspension also helps it off-road more than the other cheap cars, and we love the buggy look and feel. It’s one thing to simply go fast. It’s another to feel yourself glide over the bumps in the dirt. This car does the latter in spades.