How to Use Active Reset

WHAT IS ACTIVE RESET?

Active reset is an extremely useful practice tool that iRacing implemented to Test Drive in Season 1 of 2023.  iRacing describes this as a snapshot of the car and track state that you can run quickly and repeatedly.  This means you can create a save of your car in a specific position and time that you can load without returning to the pits.  Think of it as a savepoint that would be present in most video games.  This is handy for the drivers that are looking for a quick and efficient way to practice, sectors, corners, or entire laps.

WHEN DO I USE ACTIVE RESET?

I didn’t start using Active Reset until Season 2 of 2024 which was over a year after its release.  I simply was unaware of what it was and how it worked but it has quickly become one of my go to tools for sim racing.  I use Active Reset when I create data packs because I’m often learning new tracks and pressed for time.  It allows me to get into a rhythm quicker and extract the maximum pace sooner than I would resetting to the pits every time.

WHY SHOULD YOU USE ACTIVE RESET?

You can have more useful practice in less time.  Normally it would take me 2 laps before I can even begin to set a fast qualifying time in a GR86 or Mx5 at a track like Road Atlanta.  With Active Reset, I can cut out those 2 warm up laps if I want to focus on practicing qualifying laps.  My 50 laps of practice will turn from being 17 valid qualifying laps to 48 valid qualifying laps.  For someone like me who works a 40+ hour/week job, that extra practice is crucial.

Aside from being efficient, I’m a firm believer that you should only focus on practicing one thing at a time.  That can be a driving technique, line, corner, sector, etc.  Do you need to work on your hard braking technique?  Set your start point to the start/finish of Laguna Seca and repeatedly work on the Andretti hairpin.  Struggling to nail the mountain section of Bathurst?  Set your start point just before Skyline and repeat that sector.  Combine it with the custom sector feature and you can figure out what line down the mountain is fastest.

Finally, if you’re a fan of data, Active Reset saves not only your car position but also the state of the car and session conditions.  This is useful when setting up A to B experiments where constants are key.  I can see this being used to test tire preparation techniques, setup changes for specific sectors, and fuel saving techniques to name a few.  Unfortunately you cannot extract the telemetry from those laps but you can use the clock to measure how effective your changes are to the sector you define.

HOW TO SET IT UP?

In the iRacing Options menu, navigate to the Control’s tab and look under Other Controls.  Active Reset Save Start Point is the point that you want to start from and only needs to be hit once per session/section.  Active Reset Run will load you back to the Active Reset Save Start Point.  You can set both to anything that you want.  I would recommend setting it to something you can easily remember but will not be accidentally hit while driving/typing. I have my start point set to Shift-T and reset point set to Shift-R.  

Below the Active Reset Save Start Point and Active Reset Run in the Other Controls column are the assignments for the custom sector.  Custom Sector Mark Start Point is the point that timing starts for your custom sector and Custom Sector Mark End Point is the end for your custom sector.  Again, this can be set to anything you want.  I have mine assigned to Shift-S for the start point and Shift-E for the end point.  

If you’re using custom sectors in conjunction with the Active Reset, give yourself a run up to the start of the custom sector.  

Once in the session, simply drive to the position that you want to save the car in, press your Active Reset Save Start Point button, and begin practicing.  Everytime you want to restart or after you mess up, the Active Reset Run button will reset you. 

Now that you know what Active Reset is, how to use it, and why to use it, it’s time to implement it into your practice routine!  As always, you can drop me a message in Discord if you have any questions, comments or if you have an idea for our next blog post.  See you on track!

Sources: 

https://support.iracing.com/support/solutions/articles/31000168816-how-to-use-active-reset

Written by Cameron Martineau | Coach