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| In Forza Horizon 6, players can rack up an absurd number of drift points simply by doing donuts. |
Drift Zones have always been the ultimate test of precision and car control in the Forza Horizon series. You know the drill: pick a powerful rear-wheel-drive machine, feather the throttle, and snake your way through a series of corners while keeping the car sideways. It’s tough, it’s frustrating, and for many players, it’s the last thing standing between them and that elusive three-star rating.
But what if you could skip all that skill and just… spin in circles?
As it turns out, one clever (or lazy) Reddit user has uncovered a surprisingly simple exploit in Forza Horizon 6 (which we recently put through its paces in our Notebookcheck benchmark test). Instead of wrestling with long, winding drift zones, you can simply find a open spot – preferably one with enough room to turn tight circles – start doing donuts, and watch your score skyrocket.
The Donut Trick: Too Easy to Ignore?
The exploit was first shared on the Forza Horizon 6 subreddit, where a player posted a video demonstrating the method. In the clip, the driver ignores the intended drift route entirely, instead circling repeatedly in a confined area. Within seconds, the points start flooding in – over 250,000 in a single run. That’s more than enough for a three-star rating on most drift zones, with zero need to master the actual course.
For players who have spent hours wrestling with the game’s trickier drift sections, this feels like a godsend. Why bother learning throttle control and counter-steering when you can just hold the handbrake and spin your way to victory? The Reddit thread quickly filled with comments from grateful players saying things like “Finally, I can complete that one drift zone near the volcano” and “Playground Games owes us an easier way – this is fair game.”
Not Everyone Is Celebrating
But as with any exploit, the reaction has been sharply divided. For every player celebrating the shortcut, there’s another who feels cheated. Purists argue that the donut trick completely undermines the challenge that makes Drift Zones rewarding in the first place. After all, what’s the point of leaderboards if someone can top the charts with a few lazy circles?
One frustrated commenter wrote: “This is exactly why leaderboards are meaningless now. I spent hours tuning my drift car and practicing the perfect line, and some guy just spins in a parking lot and beats my score? That’s just wrong.”
Others worry that the exploit weakens the long-term replayability of Forza Horizon 6. Drift Zones are meant to be a skill-based challenge – something you improve at over time. If everyone can three-star them in five seconds with a donut trick, why would anyone bother learning proper drifting techniques?
Will Playground Games Patch It?
Given how clearly unintended this behavior is, most expect Playground Games to release a fix sooner rather than later. The developer has a history of patching out similar exploits in previous Forza Horizon titles – remember the AFK racing glitch in FH4? Or the infinite skill point farming in FH5? Both were eventually removed.
The real question is how they’ll patch it. A simple solution would be to adjust the scoring algorithm so that points stop accumulating if a vehicle circles in a tight radius for too long, or if it strays too far from the designated drift zone route. Another option: implement a “minimum forward progress” requirement, forcing players to actually move along the zone rather than staying in one spot.
Whatever the fix, it needs to be careful not to punish legitimate drifting techniques that might involve tight turns. After all, some of the best drifters can link together donut-like maneuvers within a zone naturally. The goal should be to kill the exploit without harming real skill expression.
How to Actually Dominate Drift Zones (The Right Way)
If you’d rather earn your stars legitimately – or if the exploit gets patched before you try it – you’ll need a proper drift setup. The community has already found a surprising meta pick for Forza Horizon 6: the Honda Acty. Yes, that tiny kei truck. Thanks to its short wheelbase, light weight, and surprisingly tweakable suspension, it’s become an insider tip for racking up massive drift scores without needing god-tier reflexes.
Of course, you’ll also need the game itself. If you haven’t picked up Forza Horizon 6 yet, the Xbox version is currently available on Amazon for around $70 – you can grab it here. Whether you plan to exploit your way to three stars or earn them honestly, it’s one of the best open-world racers on the market.
The Verdict: Cheat or Shortcut?
So where do we land on the donut trick? Honestly, it’s hard to blame players for using it. Drift Zones in Forza Horizon 6 are genuinely difficult, and not everyone has the time or patience to master them. If a simple exploit helps someone unlock a car they’ve been grinding for, that’s their choice.
But there’s no denying it hurts the competitive integrity of the game. Leaderboards become a joke, and the sense of accomplishment from a hard-earned three-star rating gets diluted. Playground Games would be wise to patch it – but maybe also consider making the standard drift zones slightly more forgiving for casual players.
In the meantime, the exploit is still live. You can see the original Reddit video and join the debate right here. Just don’t be surprised if your donut-powered high score gets wiped in a future update.
What do you think – fair shortcut or game-breaking exploit? Let us know in the comments below.