Radar Detectors

[TWODAN]

I've been lucky so far. My question:

How many of ya use 'em?

Which make & model?

How much was it $$$?

Has it saved your a$$?


Thanks, Dan

[Ruby]

I have been using Valentine for well over ten years with my older one passed down to my son who later used their upgrade program to bring it up to date.
Have used Escorts in past but once you have a detector with the arrows that tell you where the radar is coming from you can never go back to another.
I have all my cars hot wired so it's an easy task to move from car to car.

Cost doesn't appear to have changed over the years from $399. Believe you can only get direct from Valentine.

As for savings one missed ticket will pay for the detector. It has saved me countless times as I tend to have a heavy foot when I drive my box and bimmer.
Recently drove up from Florida and in NC it went off a few times that made me slow down (was doing 85 in a 70) and was passed by a number of cars. In the next 5 miles, 3 of those cars were pulled over by troopers.

Believe that says it all. Highly recommend

[thstone]

I don't use one. Out of 6 tickets in the past 10 years, only one was due to a radar gun.

Also, I go to court for every ticket and have only lost 1 out of the six - the other 5 were dismissed as follows:

1. Officer didn't show up to court - ticket dismissed
2. Officer didn't show up to court - ticket dismissed (this was the radar ticket)
3. Judge agreed with me
4. Guilty! (did not fully stop at stop sign)
5. Officer was late to court. Judge chastised the officer and then dismissed the ticket.
6. Judge agreed with me.

[Frodo]

+1 on the Valentine.

Got mine on eBay--it was maybe a year old, picked it up for somewhere around $250 IIRC. Been happy with it, though it's no panacea*. You still have to be watchful and anticipate where 'bogeys' (their terminology) might be lurking. To some extent, if you're reading it, it's reading you, though there's lots of factors (distance, other traffic, etc.) At a minimum, it tells you when not to keep on blindly accelerating.

I use it a lot, mostly trying to get a feel for where traps are being set up. Most of the time, when it goes off, I'm NOT speeding (my definition of 'speeding' is 10 or more over the posted limit). I do think the arrows are helpful.


*which, on further thought, I should also point out: "None Of Them Are!"

[darkstormvx]

Beltronics STi Driver

Since I'm stuck in VA right now, It was the only way to go. It cant be detected by "radar detector detectors" that state police have in VA, DC and NJ. In the testing I studied before I bought it, the best three were the Passport (9500x i think), Sti Driver, and V1 and they all had about the same range. You can just put mine right beside the thing the police use and their device could not eve tell its there.

450.00 direct (for warranty). No issues with it.

I also love the dark mode; it alarms but the display stays blank. Way better at night. There aren't any V1 arrows, but u can always tell by the speed of the sound where the trap is. Easily learned. In any case, no matter what detector, when K, Ka, or Laser alarms go off u always slow down hard immediately. I am not sure if V1 does laser but i think so. LE uses laser (new technology) in CLEAR weather and It'll get your speed within seconds if you're in the beam.

My detector has saved me probably 10,000 or more. I always use it on highways. I never speed around town. Only ticket I've gotten with it on was because i had the top down and music blasting and i didn't hear it for about 3 secs. Even then, I was able to greatly reduce my speed before the officer got a much lower reading.

Whatever u get, get the best model (aside from custom installed), as you get what you pay for. And don't rely on it, your eyes are much more important. You wont believe how any police are riding right along in traffic along with you pacing ppl with their radar off. Id say only 20% of police I see on a daily basis are using radar/laser!!

[JTP]

I use the Escort 9500iX and it has saved me countless times and highly recommend it. I drive alot and tend to have a very heavy foot so I rely on my detector quite alot. I've used the V1 and I didn't really care about the arrows especially when you're doing 85+ there's no time to look. The Passport is also GPS enabled so it lets you know when red light and speed cameras are coming up. These location files can be regularly updated on their websites also. The only time I was pulled over when I got lasered. It detected the laser but it was aimed directly at me so it was too late, need a jammed for that. 27 over but got off with a warning.

[DFW02S]

Here's a cool way to set it up:
http://radar-mirror.com/index.html

No connection to the website.

[Jaxonalden]

Valentine One , I own two and no matter what car I drive the V1 goes with me. I bought the Blend Mount for all the cars and swap out is a snap. I travel the "Gauntlet", which is I-35 between OKC (Go Thunder!!) and Dallas. Because it's a drug corridor, cops are lurking everywhere and I have all the confidence in the world in my V1. It has saved me countless times. My wife has the other and we feel blind driving without it.

P.S. Yes, the V1 has laser detection and PoP. The dual detectors (front and rear) gives you better situational awareness (thought arrows pointing the way) as to were the threat is. You have the option of a concealed head unit that I have mounted just below my speedo. Different tones will alert you of the different threats as well.

[WhipE350]

Originally Posted by thstone

I don't use one. Out of 6 tickets in the past 10 years, only one was due to a radar gun.

Also, I go to court for every ticket and have only lost 1 out of the six - the other 5 were dismissed as follows:

1. Officer didn't show up to court - ticket dismissed
2. Officer didn't show up to court - ticket dismissed (this was the radar ticket)
3. Judge agreed with me
4. Guilty! (did not fully stop at stop sign)
5. Officer was late to court. Judge chastised the officer and then dismissed the ticket.
6. Judge agreed with me.

Heck with a detector, I'm taking 'thstone' to court with me...seems he is a lucky charm.

[r9i8c7k]

I have the Escort 9500iX and it works great. Got it as a gift. It also helps with red light camera locations.

Just the other day I was driving down a mountain road and was approaching a sharp blind right turn and all of a sudden I heard a slow beep...beep...slowed down 10 MPH; made the turn around the corner and sure enough a CHP was waiting right around the corner with his Ka band on. Red Porsche all by itself speeding down a mountain road with no other cars around. I am pretty sure I would not have gotten away with a warning.

[RandallNeighbour]

+1 more on the Valentine 1. The arrows help you visually see the threat, and the numeric display shows that there may be more than one threat.

And then there's something that none of the others have to my knowledge. An upgrade path that's affordable. I had a drawer full of radar detectors that were old and my V1 goes back whenever there's a significant upgrade.

And one more thing... I can turn off a band that isn't used in my area, like X band. It's only used for automatic doors at WalMart and by turning it off, I get far fewer false signals.

Most any of the brand new units are good though. I just love those arrows and the "situational awareness" that it gives me.

[Topless]

I have an older Beltronics that I got 12 years ago for $100. It has been very useful as long as it is in the car I am driving. In the last 5 years I got two speeding tix and both were in other peoples cars.

I guess I need to figure out a way to get people to install a radar detector in their car BEFORE I STEAL IT!

[JTP]

Originally Posted by RandallNeighbour

And one more thing... I can turn off a band that isn't used in my area, like X band. It's only used for automatic doors at WalMart and by turning it off, I get far fewer false signals.

That's the advantage of the 9500ix, you don't have to turn off a band because it will sense false signals and ignore them. I've driven through some small towns that still have X band radars and my Escort saved me several times. Plus software upgrades are cheap and easy.

[9eighty6]

Funny you should mention it ... I just put my V1 on feeBay yesterday because I just don't use it. I gave up on driving fast/hard on public roads. I save that for AX now for two reasons:

1) no money to waste on tickets, and
2) I use significantly less gas when driving easier

Just my 2c

PS - Ruby - you live in Boynton? I live in Delray.

[JTP]

Originally Posted by 9eighty6

Funny you should mention it ... I just put my V1 on feeBay yesterday because I just don't use it. I gave up on driving fast/hard on public roads. I save that for AX now for two reasons:

1) no money to waste on tickets, and
2) I use significantly less gas when driving easier

Just my 2c

PS - Ruby - you live in Boynton? I live in Delray.

I have to concentrate and make a conscious effort to drive within the speed limits but I just can't help it when I'm in the Boxster.

[RandallNeighbour]

Since I had the coilovers and 18's put on my boxster, I don't find myself driving faster than about 80 unless I'm on a back road and trying to push it over 100 for the fun of it.

It's just too rough and laborious to drive my car fast on the Southeast Texas roads with all the expansion joints rattling my teeth every time I hit one at speed.

However, when I'm driving my BMW 550, it's a completely different story. I use the V1 in the sport sedan a vast majority of the time because I'm always drifting up into the 90 mph range by just keeping up with everyone around me.

Texans really drive fast, regardless of the cost of fuel. There's a lot of ground to cover here.