Radar Detectors
 

Which radar detector would members of this forum recommend? I used to own escort units dash mounted years ago. At the time they were considered the best. What is the latest and offer the most bang for your bucks in radar detectors in the market today. In Canada, where I go skiing radar detectors are considered illegal and confiscated. Adding insult to injury you get fined $ 500 Canadian.
Like to hear from as many as possible about your experiences with the detectors. Types etc, and models.
The Pilot

I have a V1 and am happy with it. I would also be happy with the 8500. These are the two that seem to be leaders, with the V1 being arguable a little more sensitive and having directional arrows; and the 8500 being much nicer to look at and $100 cheaper. Your call.

I have both the 8500 and the V1. I like the V1 better though! Go the route I did and have the V1 stealth hidden in the car with the rear view mirror display! :)

Wow^, that setup is totally money! I didn't know you could hide it in the mirror like that. Very clean look. How much for the whole package? 1k?

Where did you get that installation? A place in Long Island has something similar but they are for BMW cars. How much did this set you back?

I have an Escort Solo S2. I got that one because it was wireless. Supposedly, it’s the 8500 in a wireless package. I've never used an 8500 so I don’t know how the two compare.

As far as the Stealth V1, I know two people that have one. One guy has a 996 Turbo and the other a BMW M3. Both had it factory installed. If you are worried about using it in places where they are illegal, my buddy with the M3 lives in Virginia, where they are illegal, and he has never had a problem using it. Everyone that I have ever met with a V1 loves it.

Just a question. Do you guys think that these detectors actually perform well enough to justify the expense now that the police are using laser more and more? Just wondering whether you have any success with them in defeating laser or are they just effective against radar units?

It's really tough out there, any way you cut it. Every other morning I drive with a State Police cruiser, I guess we have the same schedule. We go with the flow of traffic, 65-70 mph in a 45 mph zone. It makes me feel better that I know if he is scanning me or not (he never is). The point of it is that you never know when your number is up. The police typically tolerate reasonable speeds regardless of what the marked speed is, but that gives them the chance to enforce the law whenever they want. (I wish we could just have a 90 mph limit and then have it strictly enforced, that would make driving a lot less stress for me)

It's just situational awareness. It alerts me to at least 75% of the outright traps and 100% of the times I am on the road with a cruiser approaching who is trolling.

Overall, I'd say it cut my risk by about 75%. I went from 1 ticket/year to none for the last year in which I've have my V1. But I still expect to get a ticket every 2-4 years now.

I have been driving with that philosophy for the last few years without a radar detector. What I would like to avoid is the radar trap, revenue enhancing tickets, that they like giving you in NY. Like in wide blvds. they have the radar there and you are traveling at 45-50 in a 30 mph you get nailed. Lately in Great Neck the police hides in driveways with the radar which really annoys me big time. Naturally driving a Porsche is a natural invitation for speeding tickets so we must be extra careful since the deck is stacked against us.

The unit is not in the mirror. The mirror is only the display. The unit is hidden in an area in the car where it is not visible at all.

One of my customers who is a top of the line installation shop in Manhattan does this install with all the parts included, custom lazer cut mirror, stealth V1 and K40 lazer jammer for about $3,000.

I know it seems pricey, but I like the gimmic and I also like the protection and feeling of freedom while driving. :)

Dang, it ain't cheap. lol I think that I'll just save 2200-2500 bucks and just put the detector in the cubby in front of the shifter and mount the senor up front. Anyone have this setup? Is it any good?

Check this out. I think this might be an acceptable solution for stealth location without the big bucks.
Will investigate further.
http://www.m3motorwerks.com/products/description.php/II=70

That's exactly what I have, only it's a BMW mirror. The Porsche mirror is about $800 but it's only a display. You still need the V1, a few accessories, the K40 jammer and the full day of custom install done right which brings it all to the $3,000 mark.

P.S. If you do it wrong then the radar will be deemed useless.

I have a V1 with a remote display, looking at buying an Escort Z3 Laser Shifter to go with it.

I have the V1 and I depend on 100%, If I get popped at the speeds I drive I am going to Jail. I also have a V1 on my Hayabusa
which has saved me more times than I can count.
Automon

Detector/Jammer info wanted
 

I'm considering buying a Rocky Mountain detector/jammer...

I know the detector manufacturers poo poo it, but I have too many law enforcement buddies who say it works (makes them mad, too) and a buddy with one who drives his Suburban at 90 mph and never slows down for cops, even when it goes off.

I know this is probably debated hotly, but does anyone have any experience good or bad with a newer Rocky Mountain detector/jammer combo unit?

I swear by the V1. The directional arrows have become a complete necesssity with the advent of the apparent "jamming" detectors. The concept is flawed. If everyone on the road purchased jamming or transmitting radar detectors, then everyone would be in a complete panic all the time. And, the cops would be happy. However, in the meantime, we have to try and distinguish between the real and fake. When I get a signal from behind, I slow down and when the signal passes and it is some joker in a Ford Explorer, I have the peace of mind to speed up again and pass. The Valentine will let you know if a new signal is coming from behind by distinguishing it with its beeps and the LED number.

I have tried many other detectors, and gotten tickets - 4 tickets in three years. Since I started using the V1 five years ago. No tickets. It certainly is worth the money.

I feel naked driving without my V1.

Its not so much the alerts that are gratifying but the long periods of silence when you can calmly break the law :) (err traffic laws that is). In a recent test the V1 was the only top detector to pickup Laser from a moving vehicle. Its hard enough to pickup laser from a standing cop let alone one that's hiding a few cars back.

But seriously with the speed limit pretty much ignored by everyone its really a must have for you Boxster. These cops love to hate on a poor guy who scraped together enough pennies to buy himself a world class sports car.

tips:
1-remove the front license plate (the no plate ticket will be cheaper than speeding ticket and insurance hike) laser is often pointed there and headlights.

2-Put a bra on your car, laser doesn't reflect well on dark colors.

3-coat your headlights with that laser veil "sun screen"

4- get a V1 or Escort

5- get a PBA card from your local cop buddy.

by the way the remote relocator for the V1 is the greatest invention. It eliminates the tailgaters who will spot the flashinglights coming from your windshield and it also hides the flashing light from the cops looking for a challenge. I have my remote right ontop of my steering wheel below the gauges.
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member...15_23_full.jpg

Andicati: Have any idea why some cars or SUV's (Ford Explorer as you mentioned) set off your V1? Is it another radar detector that's leaking, or a jammer that's sending out false signals?

Perfectlap: What's a PBA card, and why would this help you? In Houston, we have the 100 club which when giving a gift of $100 to a policeman's fund for families who had a cop killed in the line of duty, one receives a sticker for the back window...everyone thinks this will help you get more warnings or passes than tickets. Of course, the cops know this too and ignore it from what they tell me. I do want to know what a PBA card is though!

I never had used a detector. Seems to take all the fun out of speeding. Hey, where is the risk?

:D

V1.... Had mine for 5 years and just recently sent mine in for and upgrade last month.

RN,
a PBA card is like a get out of jail free card. My friend whose entire family is in law enforcement has about 12 of them. He has a gold one, a platinum one, one signed by the mayor of a city here in NJ, one with the president of the NJ PBA's name on it (made of metal). Basically the routine is you get pulled over you hand them your license and the card, they ask who gave you the card you sayyour brother in law, he says "slow down" and lets you leave. Some cops will keep this card others give it back, and some hard core maniac cops will still give you a ticket.
PBA= Police Benevolence Assoc.
Yeah those little sticker badges never work..

K40 in my car...
 

I'd never have spent $2k on it, but the previous owner did...K40 laser detector / jammer and radar detector, sensor units front and rear, and all displays integrated into the dash...very clean set up.
It has saved me on a few occassions already.

RandallNeighbour: I don't knowo if this is any longer true, but my understanding was that the jammers were only legal if they modified an FM signal in some way. Basically, it is illegal to transmit any form of radio wave (radar in the speeding context is a generic term that incorporates a wide range of wavelengths - hence the X through Ka bands, and the so called laser in the invisible spectrum) without a radio license. Now I understood that the jammers worked by detecting a radar signal and then adding an FM chirp to it so that what is reflected is perceived as garbage by the cop's detector. Seems to make sense when you consider the laws involved.

However, a friend of mine has a Phazer (in an Explorer incidentally, but that is another story) and the entire time he was driving behind me I was receiving a very stong signal from him. I let him pass and the V1 showed him moving to the side then to the front. So, I conclude from this and other observations on the road that the jammers are actively broadcasting a signal on the Ka band, the same band as instant on.

Why no one has decelared this illegal beats me? The conspiracy theorist in me suggests that the authorities are actually welcoming this as it must surely be generating far more false positives than the innumerous automatic door openers at the Walmarts and gas stations which now litter the X and K band. Also, why haven't Valentine responded with a jammer?

Everyone always talks about the V1, and I agree, its a nice detector. However, I use the Passport 8500 X50, the new upgrade, and MAN is it good.

I don't have any fancy wiring or cool places to hide it...I just place it front and center, and it'll pick up cops from very far off.

I don't really speed that often, but when I do, its usually pretty, uh, speedy. So I enjoy this little detector, and wanted to vouch for it amidst all the 'V1 propganda' out there.

:D

V1 Question
 

Could some one please provide more info on the stealth mode of the V1. Where do you purchase the rear view mirror and how is that installed? We own a 2000 Boxster and just love it and would like to add radar protection. Don't want the bulky thing hanging on the windshield. Please help.

for any over the counter radar detector to work properly it needs to be mounted on the windshield. Some have mounted the V1 on the roll bra in between the seats. The detector needs a clear view out of the rear window and should be mounted as high as possible, this usually means just below the rear view mirror.

The stealth mirror doesn't replace the actual detector, you will need both.

I like having the remote box for the V1 just below the digital speedometer. I can determine speed and the location of the threat in one glance, every second counts.

I have a Solo S2, and I, along with the previous poster who has one, am completely satisfied. The range is more than adequate, although you must remain alert for instant-on radar. I have had a series of Escort products, from when they were known as Cincinatti Microwave (the original Passport in metal was a super quality piece). The ease of use of the S2, the suction cups and tiny bracket remain on the windshield even when the unit is in the center console are what sold me on it.

How does a Valentine1 work fully if it is remotely mounted? Doesn't that take away it's ability to determine the direction of the radar if it can't see out the back window?

if you use the little remote box you still have to use the V1 on your windshield or wherever. The remote displays the arrows instead of on your v1 itself.
it keeps the the arrows on the V1 turned off so that you don't attract tail gaters.

this weekend I was following a Merc and noticed he was abrublty slowing down, so I hit the brakes. About two seconds later my laser signal went off (but by this time I was under the speed limit). I looked in my rearview and saw what looked like a crown vic. about a mile later the laser went off a second time. (this time I'm exactly at the 50mph limit).
a little further down the road in the opposite lane a car was getting pulled over.
Later, the crown vic sped past us in the passing lane, it was cop.
End of the month speed trap didn't get me!

p.s.
I later got a parking ticket for parking near a stop sign in a quiet neighbohrhood on a Saturday evening. Behind me was a fire hydrant and the curb was not painted yellow between the the stop and the hydrant yellow curb part. I think I'm going to fight it. They should have painted it yellow all the way to the stop sign.
Even if its in the DMV book. I think i'm going to plead entrapment.

I've got the 8500 X50 and it's alerted me extremely well to every type of signal out there. I'm often driving from Providence to NYC and the CT. cops are really sneaky. Not as bad as the NY state cops I encounter when driving on 90 to Rochester, but I've had more the enough time to slow down.

I didn't get the V1 because if the alarm goes off, I'm slowing down. Less concerned about where the signal is from, though I appreciate the arrows. I also think it's ugly and bulky and overvalued.

A note on laser. Laser devices can only be used when mounted to a stationary vehicle. The cop needs to focus the beam within a relatively small area on your car to get an accurate readout. Even then it's relatively flawed especially in bad weather. A black car with a raked front end and no license plate (like a Boxster) is pretty well cloaked. Add the headlight film and you're invinceable. Moving laser is simply to scare people. I think you could win a court fight pretty easily. That said, I've been hit with laser three times now and never pulled over. My X50 sends me out of the seat with its warning, but from what I've read it should have been all over for me at that point.

I'm interested in a laser jammer and the veil headlight technology.

???

isn't that the whole point.

I think you mean that you rather take a chance with fewer warnings. My friend got an Escort (the wireless one) I've driven with her many times and she's an excellent driver who is constantly aware of her surroundings.
well last week she told me she got nailed on the Garden State Parkway on her way back to New York. She said the warning never came and that she was doing 15-20 miles over the limit.
There's something to be said to be said for the V1's sensitivity. If you decide to pass up the sensitivity beware, the convenience could cost you dearly when that insurace hike comes in the mail.

I have an 8500, and a friend has a V1. Coming back from lunch one day, each in our own cars and travelling next to each other on a 4 lane raod, I got a weak instant-on Ka warning. We were (predictably) at 10+ over the limit, so I scrubbed off the extra speed. He, with the V1, shot ahead and didn't hit his brakes for another few seconds, then he did the same on another burst of Ka.

Arriving back at work, we talked about why I had slowed up so early compared to him. Short answer... same road, car position, radar signal, my Escort had better sensitivity than his V1, and alerted me earlier. Put them both in a different situation, and it could be the opposite.

Some test have shown the 8500 to be the better detector, and others show the V1 to be better. Drivers have gotten tickets with both. I firmly beleive that, no matter which you choose, you can't drive any faster than you're willing to get a ticket. If you do, you're rolling the dice, and you *can* come up a loser.

Jack

Oh, and the Solo wireless is not as good as the 8500 or the V1, so it doesn't surprise me that Perfect's friend got a ticket with it.

my understanding was that the wireless solo and the 8500 are the same circuitry with regards to the K's and Lazer, the difference being the added POP.

and also I agree both will be different in the accuracy dept of their warnings in different situations but my point was more geared to the greater filtering of warnings by the Escort, accurate or not.
In this department of filtering warnings, the two are very different from each other.

p.s.
an to my understanding the V1 seems to be the best at spotting lazer from a trailing vehicle. I believe in the last big test it was the only unit that did in fact detect laser from a moving vehicle.

Case shape and material, antenna shape, and all kinds of weird things such as mounting bracket location can play a role in performace. If the Solo and 8500 are indeed similar internally, they can still perform differently in the real world due to the above factors, as well as the added POP circuitry.

In any case, the "filtering" of the 8500 seems to not give me a problem. Even with it's filtering out of falses (and maybe some real signals?), it still, in my real world experiance and some tests, beat the V1 by a significant margin in the Ka band.

Since that's the band used in my area, not laser, the 8500 is the unit for me to have. The V1 simply lags by seconds and hundreds of feet. That's not what I want protecting me.

Of course, if there is laser being used from moving cars from the rear in your area, go for the V1. Even when it fails, you can get that tossed, because that use of laser should not stand up in court. Fortunately, it's a non-issue for me.

Jack

I don't get it.

If a radar detector goes off, it's indicating you're already been scanned, right? So what's the point? ;)

I take it you have never owned one. It can detect a signal a long distance ahead when they are running with it on all the time or when clocking other cars. Usually mine goes off well before it is humanly possible to see the unit. The only case when it does not really help much is with laser units, which I have only seen go off once in probably ten years since 85% off police units use some form of radar in the US. If you have ever used a cheap radar then you may experience some frustration at false sisnals or limited reception distance, but just like anything else, you get what you pay for. I recently upgraded from an older to a newer model and probably get twice the warning distance.

The solo and 8500 are definetely not the same, and escort will tell you the same. They do not have near the same reception range. There have also been several independent test conducted that show the same. Checkout this website:
http://www.radarbusters.com/support/product-tests/4.asp

I bought the Escort Solo2 about a month ago. It works great, even mounted low on the dash. I do, however, leave it on the "highway" setting all the time (max sensitivity). I know that mounting it high is key but I don't like my view obstructed.

Sensitivity is great on city streets/highway/flat land. It'll go off with plenty of time to slow down (about a 1/2 mile). Where the Solo2 lacks in detection is on twisty mountain roads. When it goes off, you're usually heading into the corner and the cop is on the other side. Sometimes it's a little better but not by much.

I'm debating going to the 8500, although according to the website listed above neither 8500 nor V1 are significantly more sensitive in K and Ka (don't care about X).


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