In the Xbox One racing field, Forza Motorsport 6 easily snags pole position

On its surface, Forza Motorsport 6 is the latest installment of a now decade-old racing game franchise. Developed by Turn 10 Studios, it goes on sale for the Xbox One shortly—September 10 for the Ultimate Edition, followed by a staggered release across the planet the following week for everyone else.

Did that release sneak up on you, too? If pre-launch chatter around Forza 6 seems to be at “merely the latest installment” levels, blame 2013. Forza 5 left some fans feeling short-changed, and even fervent followers of the series couldn’t deny the franchise lacked its usual depth with that last iteration. At the time, we hoped any missteps were simply a consequence of being rushed out for the Xbox One's launch.

Thankfully, when the nice people at Turn 10 had us out to Redmond, Washington, earlier this year to have a look at the still-in-progress new game, we were relieved. What we saw then left us excited, and several months later, we're here to tell you the anticipation was warranted. Forza 6 is the best Xbox One racing game you can buy right now, whether you're a 12-year-old kid who likes crashing into things or a 30-something with an autocross addiction.

Weather and darkness

No matter what you value in a racing game, Forza 6 has it. There are 26 different locations, including several new real-world tracks—almost all with multiple layouts or weather conditions. What's more, all of the tracks carried over from Forza 5 have had some extra care and attention from the art department. The new game has 460 cars, all of which are rendered in exquisite detail. And there’s plenty to do in terms of goals and modes, both on your own and in multiplayer.

All this detail starts on the inside. In July, we took a lengthy look at the game's engine, now called ForzaTech. Since Forza 5, Turn 10 has had another two years to get to know the Xbox One, and its growing comfort developing for the platform means the studio can now push ForzaTech harder than before. Where Forza 5 could handle 16 cars per race, now you'll run in packs of 24, still at a rock-solid 60fps. When the franchise made the switch from the Xbox 360, it enhanced its polygons with a process called Physically Based Materials. That means reflections on a car's body look the way they do because the game knows how painted aluminum or carbon fiber reflect light. With rain added to the mix, ForzaTech even takes into account how water beads and runs off or soaks into surfaces (an attribute called porosity).

Turn 10 has sacrificed a heck of a lot of rubber to the altar of accuracy. In fact, it might know more about modeling tires than anyone else out there—even tire companies—given how many different kinds of tires it's tested and the extent to which it does so. Creative Director Dan Greenawalt told us that the difference was a matter of slip angles (the angle between the direction a tire is pointing and the direction it's moving). Previously Turn 10 obtained data from tire manufacturers, but the company found that test data lacking when it came to overheated tires or extreme slip angles. The solution was to hire a company called Calspan to conduct a whole lot of tests on how different tire compounds and constructions behave when pushed beyond their limits. Calspan even built its own testing rig that now travels to racetracks, measuring how grip changes with different track surfaces.

You'll notice this attention to detail brilliantly at one particular new track, Watkins Glen International. The track surface is a mix of asphalt with some patches of concrete at certain corners. In the dry, you want to use those sections of concrete as you negotiate turns one and three for maximum traction, but true to life, you'll want to avoid that slippery concrete when the course is wet. The inclusion of wet weather races (in seven of the 26 different locations) is a huge improvement to the franchise.

Visually, Forza in the rain is a treat. Squalls come and go as you put in the laps. Cars up ahead can disappear into the mist. If you're driving an open-top car, beads of water will stream across the screen the way they would a visor, and your racing gloves and nomex fire suit will look sodden. Rain won't suddenly roll in during a race on a dry track, nor will a dry line emerge as tires clear puddles of standing water after you choose a rainy race. Aquaplaning will make you pucker just like real life, though, and puddles of standing water will make you find new lines around corners you thought you knew well.

Six of the tracks can also be raced after dark, and while there's no transition from day to night, each track has its own unique character in the dark. Racing at over 200mph (321km/h) feels far more claustrophobic when you're rushing down an unlit French road at Le Mans, compared to the floodlit banking of Daytona or the light show of Yas Marina. In our opinion it's not quite as immersive as either the daytime or wet environments, though (in particular, there's something about driving through the long tunnel in the new Rio track that doesn't look quite right).

All the tracks that appeared in previous Forza games have been reworked for Forza 6. Some—like the road course at Indianapolis—have benefited from new laser scans of the real thing. Others have been changed more subtly, but Turn 10 told us nothing was a straight port from Forza 5. We also think that there have been some improvements in the way that particles are rendered. The way sand blows across Laguna Seca at certain points is very convincing, for example. And more than once we've had our own Days of Thunder moment, finding the way ahead obscured by clouds of tire smoke thanks to someone spinning. (Just as Robert Duvall tells Tom Cruise in that film, "pick a line and then drive through it.") Finally, those of you who had bones to pick with the people in the background can rest easy as the spectators and corner workers are much more three-dimensional this time around.