Have you ever wanted to click a rewind button after locking up and missing the apex on your hotlap or after crashing in the wall?
Now you can finally do that on iRacing.
iRacing’s revolutionary Active Reset feature is one of the most exciting new developments in the 2023 iRacing Season 1 build.
For a long time, the only form of reset for iRacers was to their pit stall.
However, now in single player test drive mode, drivers can designate custom sections on any track and revisit them repeatedly.
What are the advantages of the Active Reset feature?
As you can imagine, there are quite a few advantages to this “rewind” feature.
One major advantage of using active resets is the huge time-saving benefit.
In fact you’ll no longer have to drive around from one end of the track back to where you need it. Additionally, repeating certain sections on the racetrack will help increase your skill level and allow for more thorough training and thus better lap times.
Have you ever been stuck facing the wall with a completely wrecked car? Well now with ‘Active Reset’ you can get to the corner before and learn how to take it fast enough but not too fast to end into the wall again 😉
Setting up the system is pretty simple, and only requires mapping two to four buttons. Although there have been some bumps along the road, like my car still wrecking on resetting it – this tool can be an incredible asset depending on what you’re looking for from it.
As it stands though, the system is accessible only in single-player test sessions.
Assigning control for active reset
Let’s now have a look at the list of controls for the Active Reset and how to assign them properly.
From the in-game options menu, you’ll find the new features are listed at the bottom of the “Other Controls” column.
On the Control tab found in the Options menu within the game itself, four new control options for Active Reset have been added. These include:
- Active Reset Run
- Active Reset Save Start Point
- Custom Sector Mark Start Point
- Custom Sector Mark End Point
To ensure that the functionality of setting and resetting a point is working properly, it’s essential to configure the first two controls accordingly.
It doesn’t matter which buttons or keys you prefer to assign; as long as they are set correctly.
Just consider assigning them to some unused buttons from your steering wheel.
How to use the Active Reset command
While the “Active reset run” command is quite self explanatory, the one we need to focus on here is the “Active reset save start point“.
That’s the button you’ll need to click to set the point on the track that you’d like to reset back to.
It precisely records the time, track location, speed and steering angle at any given moment when you press a button.
How to use the custom sectors commands
So what about the custom sector commands?
Whenever you’re in the sector and hit the “Custom Sector Mark Start Point” it will mark the starting point of the sector.
And when you reach the end of the sector and hit the “Custom Sector Mark End Point” it will mark the ending point.
These are the white line you see across the track when you hit the Custom Sector Start and End points.
Upon clicking the Active Reset Run button, you will be transported back to your previous place in time with a customized sector endpoint that initiates at the point of reset.
Remember that it does always keep the original state of tires, fuel and settings when returning to the Active Reset starting point, thus reproducing the exact same conditions.
Keep that in mind as well.
Also bear in mind that if you change the setup all Active Reset functions are reset back to nothing and will need to be reimplemented.
Have a look at this 5 minute explainer video from iRacing to have clarity on how the system works.
Conclusion
So there you have it, everything you needed to know about the Active Reset feature in iRacing. With this new system, you’re now able to reset your car back to its previous position on the track, allowing for endless practice on the same locations.
By configuring the controls correctly and taking advantage of the custom sector markers, you will be able to further master your driving skills and improve those lap times.
Now isn’t that worth the time it takes to set everything up? Absolutely!
