Radar Detectors

[6SpdAltima_Coupe]

hey i was just thinking about radar detectors for police and was thinking about getting one..does anyone have one? if so which brand and would you recommend it because there are honestly so many cops in my area and im soooo sick of it..ive been pulled over 3 times in the last month but not one ticket because i wasnt doing anything wrong each time lol but yea i think it would help if i had one so yea..any input on them? thanks

[Rob.Vegan]

It wouldn't help if you aren't doing anything wrong in the first place.

I am leaning towards getting the Valentine1 but I still have a ton of time to make a final decision

[super_dn]

valentine is rated #1,

from what I hear from my friends its the best one out there.But its pretty pricey.

[Blackmobile]

the escort 9300 comes with gps to eliminate false alarms. i had the 8500 and worked well

[samnornyc]

valentine 1 and blinder laser jammer the best combo for speeding ticket. it has save me a whole lot. its worth the $399. it let's you know what direction the threat is coming from too

[Beak]

valintine is jank

Stick with escort. and yes they do help if you are smart and know how to use them.

[phobs]

Valentine 1 = Best radar, lots of false alarms not that I mind, ARROWS are well worth it.

Escort 9500 series = Little under par of V1 in terms of radar performance, more expensive than V1 because of GPS features, useless to me.

Escort 8500 x50 = Best bang for your buck, I own this one because I got it brand new for $150. I was saving up for a V1 but I couldn't pass on this steal.

My friend owns a non up-to-date V1 and I have the Escort 8500 x50. We both drove together from San Diego to San Jose (460 miles) and we had walkie talkies to communicate. The V1 would get an alert only a second faster than my Escort. One occasion we both had KA alerts for the longest time. I didn't know where it was coming from. I walkied my friend and he said it was from behind since he had arrows. Few minutes later, CHP from behind passed us up. Most of the trip was open land and light any traffic.

[Mr.Coupe]

My friend owns a non up-to-date V1 and I have the Escort 8500 x50. We both drove together from San Diego to San Jose (460 miles) and we had walkie talkies to communicate. The V1 would get an alert only a second faster than my Escort. One occasion we both had KA alerts for the longest time. I didn't know where it was coming from. I walkied my friend and he said it was from behind since he had arrows. Few minutes later, CHP from behind passed us up. Most of the trip was open land and light any traffic.

Well from this info you posted phobs it seems as though they are near the same level, but Valentine just picked up the CHP from behind. I think the arrows are great help so one knows where exactly to keep an eye out. When I get my car back Imma have to buy one because I'm ganna RIP IT more often .

Ricky C.

[The_alchemist]

I got a Cobra XRS 9540 from best buy for $80, you get the usual false alarms while driven but picks up the radars real good, spots the cops from in front and behind, and even jams certain guns, pretty good for the price

[phobs]

Yeah, I think because most of the entire trip was just open land so it was easy to pick up signals. In a city like environment with lots of traffic, turns, etc, the V1 would most likely be the most superior. I'm really happy with my Escort though. It really all depends on the environment conditions and how the cop is camped, sometimes I get a 30 second early warning and sometimes only 3.

[Desire1314]

I get a 30 second early warning and sometimes only 3.

thats a really big difference man.....

[08Coupe]

I have a Beltronics RX65 Pro, best detector I have ever owned, I gave my V1 to my dad since I perfered the bel by a big margin!

[Northernstar]

Alright guys, there are several choices you can go with, V1 or Beltronics STi or Escort 9500. These three are the top rated radar detector and the best ones you can find. Some people have done a few experiments comparing the sensitivity and accuracy of these 3. You can find a lot of info on http://www.radardetector.net

All these three have its pros and cons so it really is up to your personal preference. Personally I have a Bel STi and it works pretty well. In the city, even though you get some false alarm (all radar detectors do), it picks up radar signal quite well.

V1 I have never used before but a lot of people like its arrow indicator telling you where the signal is coming from and it also tells you how many sources of threats are present. From the experiments I have read so far, V1 and Bel STi are pretty much the same in terms of accuracy and dependibility.

As for Escort 9500, it has a built in GPS so you can eliminate false alarms. How well it works, I have no idea, you have to find it out on the forum I said above.

When it comes to how far in advance does the radar detector give you warnings, there is not set time or distance. It all depends on your surrounding and amount of traffic. If there are quite a few cars in front of you, your chance of picking up radar signal bouncing off from the other cars is better and vice versa.

All these three have a lot of programmable features and I know both Bel STi and V1 have stealth mode but I am not sure about Escort 9500. What stealth mode is that in area where it is illegal to have radar detector, cops use detector to detect which car has radar detector. With stealth mode, cops won't be able to find out if you have a radar detector or not on your car. It is a pretty awesome feature if you live in a radar-detector-illegal area.

Most importantly, radar detector only detects radar and laser signals, it is useless against laser gun. By the time it picks up the laser signal, the police already have a reading of your vehicle speed. If you want to jam the laser, you need to buy a laser jammer system or blinder or laser interceptor. If you have laser jammer/blinder/laser interceptor installed on you car, police wont be able to get a reading of your vehicle speed.

[DarkKnight22]

I have the V1 and that thing is great.

My only issue is that even though I have it on 'smart' mode it still picks up every K band source I go by. This is fine and all but my previous Bel let me turn K band off completely.

The cops around here exclusively use Ka and laser so it would be nice to not have so many false alarms.

Other then that, can't complain, arrows are pretty sweet.

[bacardioil]

I use the Bel. Sti this is the best one I ever owned.

[RaZmAn]

Yea I definitely need to invest in one....I got pulled over goin 94 on a 70 on I-75 in summer...it was only for like 20 seconds, but the cop came from no where and got me....700 dollar fine. GA is insane! I got the judge to drop it to a 89 on 70 and no point drop....but still a 500 dollar fine....2 months later I got one for 89 on 70 in florida...250 dollar fine...got no points removed due to traffic school...both times I was either visiting my parents or coming back from visiting them...they are bad luck it seems :|

escort radar detector is what i started looking into...but honestly as long as you keep in the pace of traffic the cop will never get you ..that's where I made my mistakes

[Beak]

bels are nice!!

[Blackmobile]

just thought i'd throw this out there to the OP that a detector will only work if the cop has his radar on. it's useless if you're just hoping to detect every cop since most cops don't have their radars on.

the only reason i gave up my escort 8500 is because the false alarms drove me nuts, it worked too well i guess. so i'm saving up for the gps model, it's the only one i'd get since it's the only unit with gps to eliminate false alarms.

[Beak]

i dont trust the gps. say you mark a location as false, say a gas station. down the line the there could be 5 0 waiting with his radar on at his location, they say it can tell the difference. k band is k band if you ask me.

[QR25DE]

I'm not allowed to use a radar detector, f***ing laws.

[rjdmmfl1]

I'm not allowed to use a radar detector, f***ing laws.

ur not allowed tp get caught using one...

fellas, vonvivo never really posted much useful info, but by far, vonvivo's best post was about radar detectors, and it contained a link to beautiful and thorough review of radar detectors and which one was best.. I'll try and find it for you guys in the interior/exterior forum

ok fellas, i found it.... it was in the A/V section... here is the link... excellent review done by ex-law enforcement

http://www.guysoflidar.com/jul....html

[altimayankee]

i have a cobra....not sure of the model number. all i know is the 200 i spent on it has already paid for itself. i drive a lot of highway miles and i drive at least 75-80 on the two lane part of the highway, and i never drop below 80 once it turns to three lanes - 65 mph zone. not sure how it does against laser, but it usually does a pretty darn good job at picking up radar far enough away do give me a decent warning.

yay ohio not having anti-radar detector laws!

[6SpdAltima_Coupe]

thanks for all the input..it seems like the valentine is the most used and every likes it but the escort 9500 is pretty appealing too so i think im gona look more into these for sure..cant wait to speed a little more lol but under control of course..thanks guys

EDIT: actually i just did some research and im pretty set on the escort 9500 any thing else that may change my decision i should know about?
Modified by 6SpdAltima_Coupe at 4:15 PM 10/23/2009

[Beak]

ya, you dont need spend the extra cash on the 95. just get the 85. most stable radar out there.

no BS

[razah9]

thanks for all the input..it seems like the valentine is the most used and every likes it but the escort 9500 is pretty appealing too so i think im gona look more into these for sure..cant wait to speed a little more lol but under control of course..thanks guys

EDIT: actually i just did some research and im pretty set on the escort 9500 any thing else that may change my decision i should know about?

Modified by 6SpdAltima_Coupe at 4:15 PM 10/23/2009

http://www.amazon.com/Whistler...=8-13

$175 I got the Radar Antennae behind my front grill with control unit in centercubby. Awesome.

[NISMOT]

YOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I HAVE THE PASSPORT 8500 X50 BLUE IS AMAZING.https://www.escortradar.com/st....htmland dude check mine out when your over on my neck of the woods.

P.S The 5.0 can't touch me bahahaha jk.

[razah9]

Mines only remote one less than $1,000. Trust meyou don't want a suction cupped/wire dangling usingup your cig lighter. Get my clean stealth one withsexy optional voice module

[rjdmmfl1]

not to down anyone;s kit, but i think the guys of lidar test shows that the laser interceptor is the best jammer on the market.... costly, but worth it IMO

[rjdmmfl1]

If you want to jam the laser, you need to buy a laser jammer system or blinder or laser interceptor. If you have laser jammer/blinder/laser interceptor installed on you car, police wont be able to get a reading of your vehicle speed.

This is not exactly accurate... I highly urge everyone to read through the llink that I posted above... every laser jammer works different.. in the link above, they compare a number o laser jammers using a number of different police laser guns.... best all around test with proper controls I have ever seen on the internet...

in this test, they clearly show that most laser jammers have a punch through distance, which is basically the distance at which the jammer fails to jam the laser gun... the laser Interceptor is by far the best one of the list of jammers,,,

however, if folks dont want to spend over $1000, I would suggest they get VEIL in addition to whatever detector they plan to use... at least veil will give them a little more time to react before their car's speed is picked up by the laser gun

[Northernstar]

This is not exactly accurate... I highly urge everyone to read through the llink that I posted above... every laser jammer works different.. in the link above, they compare a number o laser jammers using a number of different police laser guns.... best all around test with proper controls I have ever seen on the internet...

in this test, they clearly show that most laser jammers have a punch through distance, which is basically the distance at which the jammer fails to jam the laser gun... the laser Interceptor is by far the best one of the list of jammers,,,

however, if folks dont want to spend over $1000, I would suggest they get VEIL in addition to whatever detector they plan to use... at least veil will give them a little more time to react before their car's speed is picked up by the laser gun

Yes, I am aware of the punch through distance, but laser jammer/inteceptor would have picked up the laser signal way before that so you have plenty of time to slow down. But the length of the punch through distance varies according to the road condition as well.