The fun starts when you stop treating 200 mph as hypercar territory. In Forza Horizon 6, a cheap build can be far more satisfying than rolling out a million-credit monster, especially when you've picked through the used-looking stuff in your FH6 Cars garage and found something nobody else is driving. The target sounds simple: hit 200 mph on a long highway run. The reality is messier. Power matters, sure, but gearing, drag, upgrade prices, and whether the car stays planted all matter too. A bargain car that reaches 198 mph isn't a bargain if it needs another 40,000 credits to find those last two mph.

Why the obvious picks miss the point

Cars like the McLaren F1 make the test look easy. Point it down a motorway, keep it straight, and the speedometer does the rest. But that's not really the game here. The purchase price already blows the budget before you've touched tyres, transmission, or forced induction. The Countach, Lexus LFA, and Noble M600 are more interesting because they sit closer to the line between affordable and expensive. They can reach serious speeds, though some need a lot of parts before they stop feeling sluggish at the top end. That's where plenty of players get caught out. A low showroom price doesn't always mean a low final bill.

What a proper budget run looks like

You want a car that gains speed cleanly, not one that explodes off the line and runs out of breath. Long gearing helps. So does avoiding upgrades that add grip but create more drag than the route needs.

Two rules worth keeping

1. Buy power upgrades before expensive cosmetic handling parts.

2. Test top speed on flat roads before changing final drive.

Numbers that actually matter

The Subaru Legacy became the oddball favourite because its starting point is cheap and its engine responds well without needing a ridiculous conversion. A sport transmission, sensible engine work, and a few tuning tweaks can turn it into a proper highway problem. The LFA still has more drama and a nicer sound, obviously, but the Legacy makes every credit count. The Noble M600 lands somewhere in the middle. It's fast, old-school, and less fussy than people expect. These figures are best treated as practical shopping notes, not fixed lap-time science. Road surface, traffic, and tune settings can shift the result.

That table explains why the Legacy caused such a stir. It isn't the prettiest answer, and it certainly isn't the flashiest, but it gets the job done without rinsing your credits.

Getting the Legacy over the line

Start with the transmission. A sport gearbox gives enough adjustment without turning the build into a pricey rabbit hole. Then add engine parts in stages and check the car after each change. It's tempting to fit everything at once. Don't. You'll quickly find that some upgrades add acceleration but barely improve the number that matters on a long straight. Keep the final-drive ratio sensible, then stretch the upper gears so the engine isn't bouncing off its limiter at 190 mph. Small changes make a bigger difference than players think. One notch too short, and your whole run is cooked. One notch too long, and the car takes forever to pull.

Quick checks before the highway

1. Run the same road twice before judging a tune.

2. Remove upgrades that add cost without raising top speed.

The appeal of the overlooked car

That's really the charm of this kind of challenge. You learn which cars are genuinely useful, not just expensive. The Legacy proves that a forgotten saloon can embarrass cars with much louder reputations when the road is long enough. The LFA and M600 are still brilliant choices if you've got more credits sitting around, but there's something better about winning with a cheap, slightly weird build. If you're filling out a speed-focused garage, browsing cheap FH6 Cars can give you more room to experiment instead of spending everything on one obvious superstar.