Live Out Your Fantasy Of Racing A Nissan Tsuru In Forza Horizon 5

Photo: Jalopnik / José Rodríguez Jr.

The Nissan Tsuru is finally coming to Forza Horizon 5. This is it, folks. The moment we’ve all been waiting for. That petition to bring the Nissan Tsuru to Forza worked, proving that legends never die — or in the case of the Tsuru, they go out in a fiery blaze but they always come back via DLC. Better. Stronger. And with an engine swap.

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The developers behind Forza have seen fit to let the Tsuru run free in the latest installment. It was frankly overdue because the Tsuru is absolutely necessary for authenticity where Mexico and its local car culture are concerned. Better late than never. At least the studio acknowledged that the Tsuru is, indeed, a legend.

The little Nissan is beloved for its austerity and no-nonsense approach to motoring. It’s also notoriously unsafe, having scored zero out of five stars in its crash safety test. Its Latin NCAP scores may have doomed the Nissan, but despite the Japanese carmaker suspending production of the Tsuru, the car is a staple there to this day. For the last couple of decades, or so, the Tsuru has been an unofficial mascot for Mexico; I never feel quite at home down there until I see a Tsuru. It’s commonly used by taxi drivers and government agencies, too.

Photo: Jalopnik / José Rodríguez Jr.

We at Jalopnik have long harbored love for the little car, but news comes from our former in-house video game expert, Adam Ismail, who’s now over at the Drive. When FH5 was first announced, and Playground Games said the in-game setting for the sprawling open world racing game would be Mexico, fans mused over the Nissan Tsuru being a drivable vehicle in the game.

It only took a couple of years, but the Tsuru — or Sentra, if you prefer — is now drivable and ready to take on Porsches — like its bigger brother, the Maxima. Fans can reportedly swap pretty much any engine into the car, and even add Taxi livery for that authentic feel. Long live the legend, both in-game and out.