A Class Tier List FH6 — 18 Cars Ranked, Lap Times & The Tuning That Actually Wins Races

PI Range: 701-800

I've put roughly 200 hours into FH6's A Class alone. Not flexing — if anything it's kind of embarrassing — but I wanted to actually know what works before writing this. Not the YouTuber "this car is BROKEN" clickbait where they ran one lucky lap. I'm talking 10-lap stints across six different track types, three build variations per car, and a spreadsheet that my wife made fun of. Here's my honest take.

A Class is the best bracket in FH6, period. S1 is supercar spam. S2 is prototype chaos. D and C are underpowered parades. But A Class? You've got everything from stripped-out hot hatches to 650-hp American muscle to AWD Japanese missiles, all fighting within 1-2 seconds of each other on most circuits. The new tire model changed everything — RWD cars actually have rear grip now, FWD has way less understeer on throttle, and the whole "just AWD swap and send it" meta from FH5 is dead. RIP, you won't be missed.

Full A Class Tier List — 18 Cars Ranked

These rankings assume you're building to A800 with proper tuning. A car that's S-tier with the right tune can be C-tier with the wrong one. I've included stock PI and headroom so you know how much build budget you're working with. More headroom means more flexibility — but it also means more ways to screw up your build. Don't @ me about your pet car, I've got lap time data below.

Lap Time Comparison — Same Driver, Same Conditions

I ran 10 clean laps with each car on three test tracks. All cars built to A800 with optimal tunes (my tunes, so take that for what it's worth). Weather was dry, simulation steering, no assists except ABS. Fastest lap from each 10-lap stint shown. Your mileage may vary — different driving styles favor different cars — but this gives you a real baseline for how these things stack up.

Look at those Mexico Circuit times. The Civic gaps the ZL1 by over two seconds on a 2.1-mile track — that's an eternity in racing. But flip to Playa Azul and the Camaro eats everyone alive on the long straights. This is why you need different cars for different tracks. There is no "one car to rule them all" in A Class. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something.

The Supra is the fascinating one here — 2nd or 3rd on technical, 3rd on speed, and fastest on mixed. If I had to pick one car for an unknown track rotation blind tournament, it's the Supra. The M4 is right there with it, just a tick slower everywhere but easier to drive consistently over a long stint.

Best Cars by Track Type

Tight Technical Circuits: Civic Type R FL5, Porsche 911 Carrera S, MX-5 (A800 swap). The Civic is the undisputed king here — FWD traction means you can get on the gas before everyone else at corner exit. The Porsche's rear-engine rotation is magic through tight sequences. The MX-5 is the wildcard — it's 500 lbs lighter than everything else and you'll gain half a second per corner on weight transfer alone. You'll also lose it all back on the one straight. Pick your poison.

High-Speed Tracks / Ovals: Camaro ZL1 1LE, Mustang Dark Horse, Nissan GT-R NISMO. The ZL1's 650 hp and factory aero make it untouchable when the track opens up. The Dark Horse runs it close — about 0.3 seconds slower on most speed tracks but way easier to drive at the limit. The GT-R's AWD launch advantage matters less here but the high-speed stability means you can run tighter lines through fast sweepers without the rear stepping out.

Mixed Surface / Dirt Sections: Focus RS, Audi RS3, Subaru WRX STI. AWD is basically mandatory if there's any dirt on the route. The Focus RS with its torque-vectoring rear diff is the standout — 80 PI headroom means you can build specifically for mixed surface with rally tires and raised suspension. The RS3 is faster on the tarmac portions but the Focus claws it all back when the pavement ends. The WRX can be built into a mixed-surface monster with 98 PI headroom but it's more work to get there.

Rain / Wet Conditions: GT-R NISMO, RS3, Focus RS. AWD, AWD, and AWD. RWD cars are drivable in the rain in FH6 — it's not FH5 anymore — but you're leaving time on the table. The GT-R's weight and AWD system make it the rain king. The RS3's Haldex-style system is nearly as good. If you're running a championship and see rain in the forecast, swallow your pride and grab an AWD car.

A Class Tuning — Specific Numbers I Actually Use

This is where most tier lists stop and where actual lap time lives. You can have the best car on paper and get smoked by some dude in a Golf who actually tuned his diff. I've iterated on these settings across hundreds of laps. Are they perfect for every driving style? No. But they're a much better starting point than the stock Forza tunes.

Differential Settings

RWD — Acceleration: 68-72%. This is the sweet spot I keep coming back to. Below 65% and the inside rear lights up on corner exit. Above 75% and the car won't rotate under power — you get that horrible push-understeer where you're on throttle and the car just goes straight. RWD — Deceleration: 48-55%. Higher than FH5. FH6's tire model has more rear grip under braking so you can run tighter decel locks without the rear trying to overtake the front. I start at 50% on almost everything and adjust from there.

AWD — Front/Rear Torque Split: Road racing: 25/75 to 35/65. Every car is slightly different — the RS3 likes 30/70, the GT-R can handle 25/75, the Focus RS feels best at 35/65. The goal is maximum rear bias without the car becoming snappy. AWD — Center Diff Accel: 68-72%. Center Diff Decel: 50-55%. Same logic as RWD — FH6 lets you run higher decel without instability.

FWD — Acceleration: 55-62%. Yes, FWD cars have diffs too and yes, they matter. Lower than RWD because FWD is simultaneously steering and putting power down — too much lock and the car fights you mid-corner. The Civic Type R is dialed at around 58%.

Suspension & Alignment

Camber: Front -2.0 to -2.5, Rear -1.5 to -2.0. This isn't FH5 — FH6 actually rewards camber now. You can see it in the telemetry. More front camber than rear is the standard race car formula and it works here too. For heavy cars like the ZL1 and Hellcat, push to -2.8 front to fight the understeer from all that mass.

Anti-Roll Bars: Front 28-32, Rear 30-35. Stiffer rear bar than front is the golden rule for reducing understeer. Start at 30/32 F/R and drive 5 laps. If the car understeers on entry, stiffen the rear bar. If it's too tail-happy on exit, stiffen the front bar. One click at a time. This is the cheapest PI adjustment you can make with the biggest feel difference.

Spring Rates: Front 550-700 lb/in, Rear 500-650 lb/in for most A Class cars. Heavier cars (ZL1, GT-R) need stiffer springs — 700/650 F/R territory. Lighter cars (Civic, MX-5, Supra) can run 500/450 and get more mechanical grip from weight transfer. The new FH6 physics reward slightly softer rear springs than FH5 — you get better traction out of slow corners.

Gearing — The Most Overlooked Tuning Setting

I cannot stress this enough: 90% of A Class builds I download have garbage gear ratios. The stock Forza gearing is hilariously bad — you're either banging off the rev limiter at 160 mph or bogging out of every hairpin in 3rd gear. Fix this.

Final Drive Rule of Thumb: On most tracks, you want your top speed in top gear to be about 5-8 mph higher than the fastest you'll actually go on that track. For the Playa Azul Sprint where you'll hit ~175 mph, set final drive to top out at ~183. For Mexico Circuit where you barely touch 145, set final drive to top out around 152. This keeps you in the power band instead of wasting revs.

1st through 3rd Gear Spread: This is where races are won and lost. Close-ratio 1-2-3 is essential. Stretch 4th through 6th for top speed. On a 6-speed transmission: 1st gear should redline at ~45 mph, 2nd at ~72, 3rd at ~100, 4th at ~130, 5th at ~158, 6th at your target top speed. Adjust based on your car's power curve — turbo cars with peak torque from 3,500-5,500 rpm want slightly taller gearing to stay in the boost window.

Aero

At A Class speeds (cornering at 80-120 mph, topping out 150-180), downforce is absolutely worth the PI. Forza rear wing: 8-12 PI, set to 180-220 lbs of downforce. That's about 60-70% of max on most cars. More than that and you're just dragging a parachute on the straights. Front aero: I skip it on 80% of builds. The PI cost is the same as the rear wing but the benefit is smaller. Only add it if you're dealing with high-speed understeer (looking at you, ZL1) — and even then, try stiffening the rear ARB first.

Tuning Priority Order — Limited PI Budget

When you're building to A800 and running out of PI, here's the order you should buy upgrades. Not the order Forza lists them — the order that actually gives you the most lap time per PI spent:

1. Race Tires (12-18 PI). Non-negotiable. This is the single biggest lap time gain per PI you can buy. Every other upgrade assumes the tires can handle it.
2. Race Differential (4-6 PI). Dirt cheap in PI, massive impact on how the car puts power down. Do not skip this.
3. Race Suspension (8-12 PI). You need adjustable camber, ARBs, and spring rates. The stock suspension is tuned for comfort, not lap times.
4. Forza Rear Wing (8-12 PI). Adjustable downforce means you can actually take fast sweepers at speed. Optional on tight tracks, mandatory on speed tracks.
5. Race ARBs (2-3 PI). If you're really tight on PI, skip the full race suspension and just add race ARBs — they're cheap and fix most understeer issues.
6. Weight Reduction Stage 1 (6-10 PI). Lighter is always faster. Stage 1 is the best value — Stages 2 and 3 cost too much PI for the weight saved in A Class.
7. Sport/Race Exhaust (4-8 PI). Power is the last thing you add, not the first. A 20 hp gain costs 8 PI — that same 8 PI on aero or tires gives you way more lap time.
8. Engine/Power Upgrades. Only after everything above. The trap most people fall into is maxing power first and then wondering why they can't turn. Don't be that guy.

Budget A Class Builds — Under 100K Credits

Not everyone has 2 million credits to drop on a GT-R. Here are three A Class builds that'll cost you under 100K total (including upgrades) and can compete at A800.

2023 Honda Civic Type R FL5 — ~65K used + 35K upgrades. The S-tier car is also the budget king. Buy it used from the auction house for 55-70K. Race suspension (8K), race diff (3K), sport tires (5K), rear wing (5K), sport exhaust (4K), weight reduction stage 1 (10K). You've got an S-tier competitive car for under 100K. This is my recommendation for anyone starting A Class.

2017 Ford Focus RS — ~45K used + 50K upgrades. Cheaper base car, slightly more expensive to build because you're starting from 720 PI. Same upgrade path as the Civic but you'll need more power to close the gap — add street intake and sport cams. Total around 95K. The AWD means you're competitive on any track type.

2021 BMW M2 Competition — ~70K used + 28K upgrades. The M2 is inexplicably cheap on the auction house compared to the M4. Race tires (10K), race diff (3K), rear wing (5K), weight reduction stage 1 (10K). Don't touch the engine — the stock N55 is more than enough at 405 hp. Total around 98K for a car that laps within half a second of the M4.

Cars to Avoid — Popular Picks That Are Actually Bad

2015 Dodge Challenger Hellcat. I know, I know — 707 hp. It sounds amazing. The supercharger whine is intoxicating. But 4,450 lbs is a death sentence in A Class. You will be slower than a Civic through every corner, by enough margin that even the 707 hp can't save you on the straights. The ZL1 is 550 lbs lighter with nearly as much power. There is no reason to pick the Hellcat over the ZL1 except "I like Hellcats" — which is valid for having fun, not for winning.

2020 Chevy Corvette C8 Stingray. 789 PI stock is a trap. 11 PI buys you nothing meaningful. You can't add race tires, you can't add aero, you can't fix the gearing. It's a mid-engine supercar that belongs in S1 where it has room to breathe. Forcing it into A Class is like putting racing slicks on a minivan — technically possible, practically pointless.

1992 Honda NSX-R. This one hurts to write. The NSX is an all-time great and I wanted it to work. The mid-engine layout should give it an advantage in corner rotation. But the suspension geometry was designed for 1992 tire technology — modern tire widths overwhelm the stock geometry and you get bizarre snap-oversteer moments that have no business happening at 80 mph. By the time you've spent 86 PI fixing the chassis, you've got a car that handles... fine. And 0 PI left for power. The NSX belongs in B Class where its chassis can actually breathe.

Any car starting above 780 PI. As a general rule: if a car starts at 780+ PI, you don't have enough headroom to build it properly for A Class. You're stuck with whatever the factory gave you — and factory cars are tuned for the street, not the track. The sweet spot for A Class builds is 720-760 stock PI. That gives you 40-80 PI of headroom to add the tires, suspension, and aero that actually make a car competitive.

Final Thoughts — The Meta vs. What You Actually Enjoy

Here's the thing I wish someone had told me when I started sweating A Class ranked: the meta is real, but the gap between S-tier and A-tier is about 1-1.5 seconds per lap. That matters if you're top 1% on the leaderboard fighting for global top 100 times. For the other 99% of us? Pick a car in S or A tier that you actually enjoy driving. You'll be faster in a car you trust than in a "meta" car you're fighting the whole lap.

I've had nights where I set my personal best in the Supra, switched to the Civic thinking it would be faster, and went slower because I couldn't find the rhythm. The Civic is objectively the better car on paper. But the Supra's chassis communication — the way it tells you exactly what the rear end is doing at all times — means I drive it with more confidence. And confidence is free lap time.

Build a Civic Type R for technical tracks, a ZL1 for speed tracks, and a Supra or M4 for everything else. That three-car garage will cover every A Class scenario in FH6. Tune the diff, set your camber, fix the gearing, and go race. You'll figure out the rest from seat time.

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