Ferrari F40

Lore & Background

When the F40 rolled out of Maranello in 1987, it was not merely a car; it was a statement. Ferrari had spent decades building prestige through reliability and elegance, but the F40 stripped all of that away in favor of a single goal: maximum performance per kilogram. The body panels are raw carbon fiber left exposed, the interior is stripped to bare essentials, and the twin Garrett turbos scream at a redline that makes lesser engines sound polite. In the Forza universe, this car carries that same mythic weight—players who unlock it often describe the experience of first driving it as a revelation, a reminder that before the age of electronic aids and hybrid powertrains, a supercar was simply a driver and a machine in a pact of mutual trust.

In Their Own Story

The late afternoon sun hangs low over the coastal highway, painting the exposed carbon fiber in shades of amber and rust. The F40's twin turbos are still spooling, a high-pitched whine threading through the silence of the empty road. You ease the throttle, and the rear tires bite the tarmac with a sound like tearing canvas. The next corner is a blind hairpin. You lift, the nose tucks, the world tilts, and for two heartbeats the car is weightless, all 1,100 kilograms suspended between the asphalt and the sky. Then you feed it power again, the turbos kick in with a shove behind the sternum, and the F40 rockets out of the turn, leaving a faint ribbon of smoke and the smell of hot rubber in the salt air. The horizon stretches ahead, endless and golden, and the engine sings its raw, unfiltered song.

Reader's Guide

The Ferrari F40 (1987) is a mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive supercar that sits in the S2 class in Forza Horizon titles and the S class in Forza Motorsport entries. Stock, it produces roughly 478 hp from a 2.9-liter twin-turbo V8, weighs around 1,100 kg, and delivers a handling character that is light, eager, and unforgiving—excellent acceleration, sharp turn-in, but a narrow grip window that punishes sloppy throttle work.

Tuning levers in Forza are generous. You can swap tire compounds and widths to widen or narrow the grip window, adjust suspension geometry and damping to tame the rear's liveliness, and upgrade brakes to cope with the car's speed. Exhaust and intake upgrades add a modest power bump, while engine tuning can push the turbos harder—gaining top-end speed at the cost of increased lag and a more violent power band. Aero upgrades (front splitters, rear wings, diffusers) improve high-speed stability and cornering downforce but add drag, slightly reducing acceleration. Weight reduction through lighter components helps launch and agility but can make the rear end more twitchy.

The trade-off is always balance versus peak. A fully maxed F40 will post blistering straight-line numbers but can feel nervous in technical sections. A more conservative build—moderate power, tuned suspension, balanced tires—keeps the car composed and fun while still outpacing most rivals.

Build philosophy: treat the F40 like the driver it was designed for—feed it power in controlled bursts, let the rear do the talking, and never, ever trust the throttle in a blind corner.

Did You Know?

• The F40 was the last production car approved by Enzo Ferrari personally before his death in 1988, giving it a unique place in the brand's history.
• Its name 'F40' simply stands for Ferrari's 40th anniversary, not a model designation or performance rating.
• The car's exposed carbon-fiber body panels were left unpainted to save weight, a design choice that became instantly iconic and is faithfully rendered in Forza's in-game models.
• Only around 1,311 units were ever built, making it one of the rarest Ferraris and a highly sought-after collectible that fans in the Forza community often treat as a 'must-have' garage piece.