Lotus Evija in Forza Horizon 6 — One of the 5 Fastest Cars and the Best Drift Specialist

Search "Forza Horizon 6 fastest car" and you'll see the Lotus Evija mentioned everywhere. The reality is more nuanced — the Evija is tied for fourth-fifth fastest at 294 mph in the open world, sitting just behind the 1985 AE86 Forza Edition (322-324 mph), Nissan GT-R Black Edition R35 Forza Edition (304-306 mph), and Hennessey Venom F5. But where the Evija truly stands alone is as FH6's standout drift specialist — IGN's drift pick of the game, with stock semi-slick tires already built for sliding. Here's the honest breakdown of where the Evija actually sits in FH6's meta, why it still matters, and whether you should add it to your garage.

Where the Evija Actually Sits — Top 5 Fastest in FH6

The FH6 top-speed leaderboard isn't the marketing pitch most blogs are giving you. Here's the actual ranking based on open-world testing.

#1 1985 AE86 Forza Edition — 322-324 mph. Yes, a Toyota Corolla through extreme tuning. Forza Edition tuning exploits + engine swap potential put this old hatchback at the absolute top. #2 Nissan GT-R Black Edition R35 Forza Edition — 304-306 mph. AWD traction + Forza Edition treatment make it both the fastest AND the drag-strip dominator. #3 Hennessey Venom F5 rounds out the top three.

Tied #4-5 — Lotus Evija Forza Edition + Porsche 917 LH Forza Edition — 294 mph each. Per EZG's open-world testing, both achieve identical top speed. The Evija benefited from its lightweight design with modified steering speed settings. The 917 LH required a long straightaway. Both belong to the Forza Edition series — and the pattern across the top 5 is clear — Forza Edition variants dominate FH6's top-speed leaderboard.

What the Evija Actually Owns — The Drift Specialist Crown

This is where the Evija stops competing with raw top-speed cars and starts owning its own category. Per IGN's FH6 best cars guide, the 2020 Lotus Evija Forza Edition is THE standout drift pick because it ships with semi-slick tires already configured for drifting. You don't need to tune it. You don't need to swap tires. You don't need a community build. Out of the box, the Evija drifts.

What makes this unusual — most drift specialists need 30 minutes in the tuning menu or a downloaded community tune before they come alive. The Lotus Evija Forza Edition is the rare exception that just works. Per kboosting's coverage — speed sits at 7.9, but the handling and drift-specific tire build let it carve through twist circuits and Drift Zones with very little setup.

The Real-World Lotus Evija — Why It's a Hypercar

The 2020 Lotus Evija isn't just a video game car. It's a real-world production hypercar with hardware that justifies the FH6 stats. Lotus unveiled it in July 2019 as the brand's first electric car ever. Limited to a 130-example run. Price tag — over $2,000,000.

The powertrain is genuinely absurd. Four individual electric motors by Integral Powertrain. Battery developed with Williams Advanced Engineering. Nearly 2000 horsepower (1491 kW). 1254 ft·lb of torque (1700 Nm). Single-speed automatic transmission to Pirelli Trofeo R tires. Real-world top speed beyond 200 mph (322 km/h). Charging — 18 minutes to full from 0%, 12 minutes to 80%. That's the hardware the FH6 physics engine is modeling.

The Forza Edition — What VIP Membership Gets You

The base Lotus Evija appears in FH6's standard car list, but the Forza Edition is what you actually want — and it's locked behind VIP Membership.

The Forza Edition variant features: S2 900 Performance Index ceiling, Drift skills boost (this is the killer feature — more skill score per drift action), the same lightweight Evija chassis, and pre-tuned settings optimized for drift performance out of the gate. Per the Forza Wiki — "The Forza Edition is a pre-tuned variant featured in Forza Horizon 6 as part of the VIP Membership." This means it's NOT part of the base game — you need Premium Edition ($119.99) OR Premium Upgrade Bundle ($59.99 on top of Game Pass) to get VIP access and unlock the Forza Edition variant.

For Game Pass subscribers — the base Lotus Evija is still in your library. You can still drive it. You just won't get the drift skills boost or the pre-tuned drift setup. The base Evija is a great car. The Forza Edition is the drift king.

Should You Build For Top Speed Or Drift?

Per GamerStation's tune calculator — the Evija can be built for either road, dirt, cross country, drag, drift, or top speed. The two builds that actually matter for the FH6 community are top speed and drift.

Top speed build — R-class AWD setup, ~2.1-2.3 Hz front/rear ride frequency, soft toe-out front for turn-in, aero biased ~50% front / ~70% rear, stiffer springs, lower ride height. Targets the 294 mph open-world ceiling. Pairs well with Tokyo C1 expressway runs and long coastal straights.

Drift build — keep semi-slick tires, raise rear ride height slightly, soften rear dampers, increase rear aero deletion. Pairs well with Hakone touge passes, Mount Haruna hairpins, Norikura Skyline. The Forza Edition's drift skills boost compounds the score advantage on Drift Zones.

The honest call — if you have the Forza Edition variant, build for drift. That's where it stands alone. If you only have the base Evija, build for top speed to chase the 294 mph leaderboard slot. Don't try to do both with the same tune — pick a lane.

The Bottom Line — Tied Top 5 Fastest, #1 Drift Specialist

The Lotus Evija isn't FH6's absolute fastest car — that crown belongs to a 40-year-old Toyota Corolla through Forza Edition tuning exploits. But the Evija IS tied for fourth-fifth fastest at 294 mph, which is still genuinely elite. And in the drift specialist category, nothing else in the game ships ready to drift out of the box like the Evija Forza Edition does. That's a category-of-one position.

Get the Forza Edition if — you're a drift player, you want the highest skill-score multipliers on Drift Zones, you have VIP access via Premium Edition / Premium Upgrade Bundle. Stick with the base Evija if — you're a Game Pass subscriber and want a top-5 fastest car that still respects 294 mph open-world top speed. Skip it entirely if — you only race road / circuit / cross-country events and don't care about top-speed or drift content. The AE86 Forza Edition is the absolute top-speed king; the Nissan GT-R Black Edition Forza Edition owns drag.

Got questions about whether VIP Membership is worth it for the Forza Edition variants, or whether the base Evija holds its own without the drift boost? Hit our live chat and we'll help you sort the build path.

Related Reads

• Forza Horizon 6 Best Cars Ranked by Class — Top Pick for Every Tier (D to R) — where the Evija sits in the broader S2 + R-Class meta
• Porsche 911 GT3 RS Rated in Forza Horizon 6 — 5 Categories, 1 Honest Verdict — the S1 track-toy alternative to the Evija's S2 hypercar status
• Forza Horizon 6 Series 1 — All 14 Festival Playlist & Car Pass Cars — current Series 1 content live through June 18
• 10 Forza Horizon 6 Tips Every Player Should Know — touge optimal setups + Drift Zone strategies
• Forza Horizon 6 — 5 Days In, Settled Verdict on Japan's Massive Map — full post-launch breakdown