Forza Horizon 6 Difficulty Settings and Credit Bonus

Forza Horizon 6 has two difficulty settings, and they are independent. Drivatar Difficulty decides how fast the other cars are. The Driving Assists decide how much the game drives for you. Both pay more credits the harder you set them, up to about double the race payout.

Both are in the pause menu: Campaign, Settings, Difficulty. You can change them whenever you like, and the game shows the same options on the screen before each race.

I checked the names and numbers on 10 October 2026. Playground Games does not publish the bonus table, so the percentages below are from Game8's difficulty table and TechWiser's credits guide, which agree with each other on the assists. The Difficulty screen shows your current total bonus, so you can confirm it on your own save in ten seconds.

The quick version

Drivatar difficulty levels

Nine levels. Each one makes the AI cars quicker and pays a bigger bonus on the race.

Look at the steps. Up to Expert every level is worth 5%. Pro and Unbeatable are worth 10% each. So the last two levels are where the money is, and they are also where most people stop winning.

Which one is right for you? The one where you win by one or two seconds. Not ten. If you finish half a lap ahead, you are leaving credits on the table and you are not learning anything. If you finish fifth every time, the bonus is a percentage of a smaller prize, and that is worse than winning one level down.

My rule: go up when it stops being hard. Win three races in a row without a fight, move up one level. The game will suggest the same thing after a run of wins.

One thing before you chase the 50%. The car matters as much as you do. A stock car against Unbeatable Drivatars is a hard evening, so build the car to the top of its class first. My best cars in Forza Horizon 6 list is where I would start.

The assist presets

The Driving Assists Preset has six options: All Assists, Assisted Steering and Braking, Easy, Medium, Hard and Ultimate. Change any single assist yourself and the preset becomes Custom.

I would not use the presets. They move everything at once, and you never find out which assist was holding you back. Set Custom and change one line at a time.

The assists, one by one

Four assists pay a credit bonus. The rest change how the game feels and pay nothing.

That is +50% from the assists, on top of whatever your Drivatar level pays.

Stability Control: off, today. It cuts power and brakes single wheels every time the car rotates. You get out of every corner slower with it on. So turning it off gives you 10% more credits and a faster car. There is no trade here.

Traction Control: off when you are ready. With it on, the car bogs on corner exit. With it off, your right trigger or your right foot does the job. In a rear wheel drive car with a lot of power, that takes a few evenings to learn. Start in something with four wheel drive and it is easy.

Shifting: Manual. This is the big one for 15%. The automatic shifts up early and down late. In manual you hold the gear through the corner and you choose the gear for the exit. Give it a weekend. Manual with Clutch pays the same 15% by Game8's table, so on a pad there is no reason to add the extra button.

Braking: Anti-Lock On, unless you have pedals. This is the other 15%, and it is the one I would leave on the longest. A trigger has very little travel, so finding the limit of the tyre without locking is hard. On a wheel with a load cell brake pedal it is a different story. There I would turn it off, because that is how you learn to brake properly.

Steering: Standard or Simulation. No bonus either way. Standard filters your inputs a little and suits a pad. Simulation is the direct one and suits a wheel. The detail for each is in my controller settings and wheel settings pages.

Driving Line: Braking Only. No bonus. The full line teaches you to stare at the road just in front of the car. Braking Only gives you the braking point and leaves your eyes free for the corner. Turn it off when you know the roads.

Rewind: On. No bonus for turning it off, so leave it on and use it to learn. Miss a braking point, rewind, try it five metres earlier. That is free practice.

The order I would take the assists off

Not all at once. One change, then a few races, then the next. If you change four things and the car feels bad, you do not know which one did it.

1. Stability Control off. Day one.
2. Driving Line to Braking Only.
3. Shifting to Manual. The car will feel slower for an evening. It is not.
4. Traction Control off, in a four wheel drive car first.
5. Drivatars up, one level at a time, as the wins get easy.
6. Anti-Lock off last, and only if you enjoy it.

Steps 1, 3 and 4 are worth +35% on their own. That is more than going from Average to Expert, and it makes you faster instead of making the opposition faster.

Does the bonus make a real difference?

Yes, over a season. At about +60% you earn in five races what a player with no bonus earns in eight. If you are saving for an expensive car, that is days of play.

But it is a bonus on the race prize. It does nothing for wheelspins, the auction house or skill chains, which is where a lot of credits come from in a Horizon game. So set the difficulty for the driving first and the money second. A race you enjoy and win at +40% beats a race you hate and lose at +100%.

For the rest of the game, my Forza Horizon 6 guide has the order I would do the first ten hours in.

FAQ

Where are the difficulty settings in Forza Horizon 6?

Pause menu, Campaign tab, Settings, Difficulty. The same options also appear on the screen before a race starts.

How many difficulty levels does Forza Horizon 6 have?

Nine Drivatar levels: Tourist, New Racer, Novice, Average, Above Average, Highly Skilled, Expert, Pro and Unbeatable. On top of that there are six assist presets, from All Assists to Ultimate.

What is the maximum credit bonus?

About +100% by Game8's numbers: 50% for Unbeatable Drivatars, plus 15% for anti-lock off, 15% for manual shifting, 10% for traction control off and 10% for stability control off.

What is the best difficulty for earning credits?

The highest Drivatar level you still win on, with stability control off, traction control off and manual shifting. For most players that lands around +50% to +60%.

Which assists give bonus credits?

Braking, Shifting, Traction Control and Stability Control. Steering, the driving line and rewind do not change the payout.

Does turning off the driving line give more credits?

No. It is not one of the four assists that pay a bonus.

Can I change difficulty in the middle of the campaign?

Yes, at any time, and as often as you like. Nothing is locked.