Radar detector advice?

[backmarker]

Hello,

I'm new here and appreciate all your collective help and time. I recently picked up a 2011 M37x and like it very much. It hits all the old Jaguar buttons -- grace, space, pace -- while being a good bit faster and (hopefully) an order of magnitude more reliable.

I'm thinking of installing a radar detector and wanted to ask your collective experiences. I'm considering going with either a Valentine One wired through a Mirror Link adaptor to pull power from the rear view mirror, or the dealer installed, hidden model next time I bring the car in for service.

Any advice or suggestions? I assume the dealer installed model is a K40, which have mixed reviews, but I would love to hear from anyone who has gone either route. Discrete installation would be an advantage, but the device has to actually work in the first place.

Many thanks. Drive safe.

[JCesar]

Get a Valentine One!
It's the only one I use, oh and buy the Hardwire kit from them too. they go for about $13 and well worth the money

[Ilya]

V1's are still very very good, but there are some new radars from Escort, etc. that are worth their money as well.

[InfinitiAce]

If you live in a city, the Escort 9500ix is the way to go. It has built in GPS so it eliminates all of the false alerts after you pass them twice. I was completely tuning out my old radar detector because I was getting so many false alerts. The detector was nothing but background noise. The 9500ix fixed that.

I hard wired it to my box using a $15 cable. Buy the cable with the lights and mute button built in. You can then turn the radar detector display off and make it invisible. The new model Max2 has some new features but is probably not worth the extra price. You can find a 9500ix on ebay for under $300.

[DoN_BLaZe34]

I 2nd the 9500ix

[JHC828]

I have the 9500ix in 3 of my vehicles using the blend mount to instal it securely to the mirror and the cable to be powered from the homelink mirror. Highly recommend this setup.

[SmoovC]

I went with the Max2 to replace an Sti Driver. The unit has built-in Bluetooth, so it eliminates the need for the cable with the buttons; making for a cleaner install. Everything is controlled through my phone via the Escort Live app.

[Ilya]

Yep, to add to my earlier post, the Max2 is the one I was referring too. V1 is still up there, but it's no longer the undisputed champion. Only benefit it has over the others is the directional arrows.

[Larz]

Correct me if I am wrong, and please don't feel as though I am poo-ing the idea of a radar detector, but ....
If there is no car in front of you, you are speeding, and you get an alert, it's probably cause YOU are the one getting zapped so how can this protect you? I know it will also alert if there are other cars being zapped, but if there are other cars in front of you, you probably can't speed and if you are following behind a speeding car or in a line with other speeding cars, an alert on the lead car won't give you enough time to slow before you get zapped as well. So it seems the chance of this unit saving you from anything is pretty slim, no? Also, in my travels, I have been on motorways where they have speed cameras - do these units alert you hen approaching a camera?
I guess I'm just curious to hear how these things have actually made any difference in the odds of getting caught at high speeds. Mind you, I DO speed, but I know that whilst speeding, I have to be prepared to pay for it if caught. On a recent trek through a few states, I was sandwiched between a gopping Porsche in front of me and a lovely girl in a Bentley behind me for miles and miles at about 100 mph. If the car in front got zapped, my detector would alert, but I'm sure I and that girl would also get zapped in the next few seconds and that would be too late to save any of us.

[InfinitiAce]

Larz,

Yes, the new radar detectors have a database of speed cameras, red light cameras, etc.

You are correct, on a long road, if you are the lead car, you definitely increase your chances of getting caught. However, the range on a good detector is pretty good. On trips from LA to Vegas, I get an alert sometimes over a mile away. I use a combination of Waze and a radar detector on long trips. It is fun to spot the cops miles in advance. I always see them giving a ticket to some poor soccer mom in a minivan that probably just was not paying attention on the downhill.

[Ilya]

Also, isn't Laser the only radar that is 'on demand'? Most others are just on and notify the cop when someone is flying? No?

[stm37s]

This some good info fellas

[SmoovC]

"Lead car" is a relative term. If there are no cars for miles in front of you, then yes your risk is greater. A top of the line radar detector will pick up a signal miles ahead; long before you are the intended target. Further, the odds of a LEO running radar/laser on a lonely stretch of road with no traffic is pretty slim; at least in my neck of the woods.

Laser is not the only SMD technology that is "instant on". K band, and also Ka band employ this technology. It has been my experience that most County Sheriffs in my area are equipped with K band and leave the units on continuously; thereby making them easy to track and identify. Others use Ka band which emits a weaker signal, but the Max2 has no trouble sniffing them out, and gives ample warning time to adjust speed as needed.

[Ilya]

^^ +1

[dmclone]

I have a valentine one(about 5 years old) hardwired to the rear mirror. I've turned off the laser piece since a lot of cars have laser cruise that make it go crazy, usually when you detect the laser it's too late, and very few cops in my area use it.

I've also made setting changes so that K band doesn't make a noise until you get very close to the source. It does light up however.

I know it sounds dumb but the arrows on the V1 is what sells it for me. In addition, I've yet to see anything that does a better job of picking up cops from further away. With that said, I think some of the new ones are better at picking up false positives. There are certain GM SUV's that just drive the V1 crazy.

[Larz]

Right! First I must say that you lot have turned me right around about these detectors. I had no idea they detect so well at such distances. Even if you ARE the lead car in your immediate area, there must be a car somewhere ahead of you and when they get zapped, you should get a warning. No idea that was possible.
Now the only concern is a place like Virginia where they are illegal. If driving up in that area (which I do 1-2 times yearly) I suppose I could just switch it off and drive like a grown-up. Can the PoPo detect I have one if it is left switched on and hidden from view?

[SmoovC]

From Escort's site:

Should I be concerned about radar detector detectors?

U.S. non-commercial drivers should not be concerned at all unless you drive in Virginia or Washington DC. If you do drive in either of those places, are a commercial driver, or drive in Canada, please note that while all of our current detector models are immune to the VG-2 radar detector detector (RDD), all of our radar detectors except the RedLine and Passport 9500ci can be detected by a newer RDD named Spectre.

From Beltronic's site:

Should I be concerned about radar detector detectors?

U.S. non-commercial drivers should not be concerned at all unless you drive in Virginia or Washington DC. If you do drive in either of those places, are a commercial driver, or drive in Canada, please note that while all of our current detector models are immune to the VG-2 radar detector detector (RDD), all of our radar detectors except the STi Driver, STi Magnum and STi-R can be detected by a newer RDD named Spectre.

From V1's site:

Does Valentine One have "stealth?"
Is this the same as being VG2 proof?
- H.C., Idaho
The real question is, can V1 be found by an instrument called a "radar-detector detector?"
Good radar detectors, like good AM/FM radios, are super-heterodyne receivers, and they all share a common trait. They receive, but they also transmit a signal; it's called "local oscillator emissions." This transmitted signal can be found by another radio if it's tuned to the right frequency. A radar-detector detector is merely a radio tuned to the right frequency range for most detectors.

VG2 is the most famous of the radar-detector detectors.

A little history: Escort was the first X-K super-heterodyne detector. Jim Jaeger and I invented it, working out of his basement in the mid-seventies. Since then, other detector makers have taken the easy way and copied Escort's frequency scheme, which means they have the same L-O frequency. So VG2 knows right where to tune for them.

The one detector that's apart from the pack is V1. I didn't copy myself. So VG2 misses Valentine One. In our tests, Valentine One is better than all others for VG2-proofing. Our best competitors are pretty good, maybe good enough. Some others resort to a dubious strategy; they switch off their radar protection when they sense VG2 nearby.

Recently, we've been hearing of another radar-detector detector, the Spectre RDD. Used first in Canada, enforcers of detector bans in Virginia and Washington, DC, and the nationwide ban in heavy trucks, surely have this tool on their must-have list. It claims to have been designed specifically "to detect the latest state of the art stealth-type radar warning receivers." Does it find V1? Very likely, according to reports we've been hearing from a few V1 users. One participant in an internet chat room, who claimed to be a Canadian enforcer, said "I've snagged a Valentine 1 already." We've been unable to acquire a Spectre RDD for testing. Until we can do so, be advised that no super-heterodyne receiver is perfectly undetectable, and that includes V1.


Interestingly, both Escort and Beltronics have units that will defend against Spectre RDD; whereas V1 claims they've "been unable to acquire a Spectre RDD for testing."

[Larz]

So .... when I enter Va or DC, it's best to switch off the detector. Watch this video till the end. I've seen "speed enforced by aircraft' signs and I used to think it was silly. After watching this video, I reckon radar detectors are the least of my worries now !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2xnWYx8YK8

[Ilya]

I wouldn't just turn it off. REMOVE IT FROM SIGHT. I was engaged to a girl in VA some time ago and used to go there a lot. Heard of stories of people being pulled over/ticketed just for having them visible. One guy even said his was confiscated as it was illegal.

[Larz]

Wow, thanks for that tip. Seems Virginia doesn't play when it comes to detectors.

[White-Rush]

Yeah, If you speed in Virginia or even attempt to use a radar detector, expect to pay out. This State police as well as the local Sheriff's both get in on the action, so take a moment to read this quick exert and consider yourself warned...

http://jalopnik.com/never-speed-in-virg ... 1613604053

[Ilya]

Gotta love the Commonwealth of VA lol. I don't miss my drives to Harrisonburg lol. The other thing I noticed about VA is their drivers LOVVVEEEE to cruise in the left lane at EXACTLY the speed limit. AND they REFUSE to move over. You can blink your highs and tailgate till you're blue in the face, they WILL NOT MOVE.

[White-Rush]

haha...you have never lied on that.

[Larz]

Yeah, If you speed in Virginia or even attempt to use a radar detector, expect to pay out. This State police as well as the local Sheriff's both get in on the action, so take a moment to read this quick exert and consider yourself warned...

http://jalopnik.com/never-speed-in-virg ... 1613604053

Bloody Nora! "The best plea deal I got was a fine of about $400 with court costs, a 10-day suspension of my license in Virginia, and three days in jail. "
... and that was just for speeding (93 mph). Imagine what else they would do if he also had a radar detector!
From now on, I shall drive in the RIGHT lane and set the cruise for the exact limit. You have to admit - it is a VERY effective policy.