So I've turned off all assists except for the driving line because I am awful at figuring out the line of a track and kept the car on automatic. The problem is occasionally I'll start going side to side and eventually spin out. The question is how do I stop doing that. Its obvious I'm doing something wrong, but if I slow down to take a turn the drivatars will just blow by me. What should I be doing to mitigate this?

It's a bigger factor the more powerful the car is, but you definitely want to learn to use the whole throw of the accelerator trigger. Don't just floor it every time you want to go.

You might try just turning traction control on until you get the feel of the particular car.

The new rumble triggers REALLY help with learning this. From what I understand so far, the right trigger will rumble when you're either spinning your tires or drifting. Some vibration is okay, but too much without TCS on means you're spinning out. Like jaycrockett said, you want to ease onto the gas, not floor it. Use the vibration in the trigger as a guide to how much. Same goes for the left trigger I think. It'll vibrate a lot when you're locking up your brakes.

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Don't plant it at full lock. You need to learn throttle control and correct braking (smooth breaking up to corner, not jamming them on mid turn).

Trigger control and add traction control to assists like mentioned above, or set a better tune with adjustable handling upgrades and increase aero downforce specifically for your RWD cars; this'll help a ton too.

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Slow in and Fast out. Get real deep on those brakes and DO NOT allow them to lock, metal is a lot better at breaking than hot rubber. Then with NO POWER get around the apex of the corner, after the apex slowly squeeze the fun trigger. Don't give it all the beans at once, especially with higher power cars. If the back of the car starts coming around just let off the trigger a little bit, but don't let go all the way, that's how you get snap oversteer and spin even faster. If you are in an over-steery car (front engined and rear drive) just know in advance that you are gonna have to give it some counter-steer (steering into the slide to correct it) coming around the corner. If you are in an under-steery car (front engine and front drive) slower in and not accelerating until the car is pretty straight is the key. With FWD the front is doing literally everything; All of the braking, steering and acceleration, and most cars can't handle all three at once.

It's all a dance, really hard to master but so rewarding once you get it down.

Also some other tips: Check out tuning files if you need a car in a certain class, there are people that can tune problems out of cars and make it a lot easier.

Practicing WITHOUT the racing line on. Finding your own lines can be a really big help.

Also just general hooning around can get you more comfy with a car. Just go on a track by yourself and find the limit when you aren't under the pressure of an actual race. Real race drivers do this too, nobody goes into a race without an untested or uncomfortable car.

And have fun.

For proper corners... Brake, turn, accelerate, in that order. And none of those three things should overlap... unless you want the sideways action.

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git gud

@jnal: Lots of solid advice in this thread. Also, make sure your steering inputs are always as smooth as possible. This will keep you going straight and fast instead of drifty and slow.

I found changing the steering setting back from simulation made a massive difference in the ability to control some cars. I find the thumb sticks are to small for my liking and make small adjustments more difficult than previous games.

Sometimes you need to drive slow to go fast. Control your speed going into turns. Brake more, going straight into the turn (go slower) and then let off the breaks and make your turn and ease into the throttle. Your friction should be helping you break first and then turn and then accelerate. If you are using your friction for multiple tasks, the cars performance will suffer and you will be slower. Everything needs to be as smooth as possible on all inputs. Never mash anything.

edit: Also in Career, the game auto upgrades your cars automagically, but it does so poorly especially when you are a driver that might prefer more grip over more top speed. So explore the tuning menus and search for tunes by others that add better braking/handling to the car. Also I'd suggest never buying a car in Career itself. You'll waste money on unnecessary/unwanted upgrades that the game decides for you. Buy your cars vanilla and upgrade/tune what you want rather than let the game decide what to tack on to the car.

I don't have Forza 5, but most simulation racing games are very similar when it comes to taming an unruly beast of a car, (e.g. a fully upgraded ((stock)) Corvette / Viper..etc) I believe @wildhamster gave the best advice. It's easy in and smoothly accelerating out of corners. You need to know how to trade break and gas power to make the most of your turns, and not losing power while coming out of corners. It's a dance. You need to hold onto the edge of your seat and master it.