Radar detectors seem to have two camps, those who like the Valentine 1 which uses decades-old technology but due to patents has exclusive arrow detectors to point you towards the source of the radar, and those who like the newer Escorts which use GPS technology to mark false alarms as well as shared data among users with their Live program.

I personally swear by the V-1 and drive everywhere with it. Yes lots of false alarms but at least where I drive 99% of K alarms are false and 99% of Ka alarms are real. The detector has incredible range and has saved my bacon at least 3-4 times making the $499 price tag justifiable.

Have no experience with laser jammers as I don't think any of the police around here use lidar.

 

I have multiple V1 for my vehicles. Never tried others but fully satisfied with V1. I'd rather have a false alarm than a ticket. Besides, if you know how it sounds you will know which one is real which one isn't hence it's not a false alarm anymore.


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I use V1 and have for years. Yes I know illegal here. (I dont use here but everywhere else) :wink:
Am also very satisfied. I use in conjunction with Waze.

 

Waze plus Valentine 1 is really the best combo - I have had the V1 over 20 years (cannot believe it has been that long - can you say that about any electronic device?). I realize I can send it in to get updated programming, but honestly, I cannot be without it for the two weeks they say it takes.

 

I had the V1 for 6-7 years, now happy with an Escort 9500ix. I loved the V1, but grew tired of the incessant false alarms and having to hit the button constantly to shut it up. The Escort is much better in that sense (GPS enabled, so it learns to lock out repeat false alarms over time, warns you of upcoming speed and red light cameras, etc.) The V1 could sniff out bogeys from incredible distances, the Escort a little less so perhaps, but still gives you plenty of time to react to all types of radar guns. One big hiccup of the Escort - or any other dash mounted GPS-aware detectors - in a Land Rover is that, if you have a heated windshield without a "pass-through" area to mount it, the detector will sometimes fail to lock on the birds up there for long periods of time, so it becomes as "dumb" as a Valentine 1, courtesy of those tiny heating filaments sandwiched in the glass. Mine will sometimes lock onto satellites right away, sometimes it won't for 30 minutes or more... It is probably dependent on where the nearest birds are at that time of the day/night. It's a crapshoot. The filaments don't seem to affect radar detection, though.

Active laser countermeasures are illegal here in SoCal, so I haven't taken a chance on jammers, even though more and more CHP officers and some local police are starting to use laser guns to clock speed. Both V1 and Escort will sound an especially dire alarm and light up like Christmas trees when they detect lidar - but by then, it's usually too late of course - if you were speeding.

 

I have to agree with vaser, the Waze app is a pretty good companion.

 

I have had first had experience with Escorts 9500ix and Passport Max. Both are good radar detectors with GPS built in to avoid false alarms. Passport Max uses a digital chip for signal processing and is really good at long range detection. As umbertob said if you have a heated windshield, it might take a while for the GPS to get a lock. I had mine mounted on the top right by the rear view mirror and would get instant GPS lock but I switched to a mirror mount and now it literally takes 10-15 min to get a good GPS lock.
Escorts redline is also another detector to consider. Lot of users rated redline for the best long range detection. There are plenty of YouTube videos out there comparing all of these models side by side.
Good luck.

 

On my Z06 I have a Laser Interceptor which has saved me a number of times over the past few years. I am more apt to go quicker in this car than my RRS. In California, using one of these with 3 or fewer heads is an infraction (ticket), not a misdimeantor so I'll take my chances. It can also function as a parking proximity alarm so I'm not sure how such a ticket can hold up in court. I've been shot at over a dozen times (not always speeding). I slow down to normal speeds (a second or two), then turn the unit off so the shooter can get a signal as I drive by. I have never been stopped and never had a speeding ticket since installing this unit along with a radar detector. It sure feels reassuring to have some level of protection when you feel the need to go a little quicker than normal. If you look carefully, you can see the sensors.

 

V1 with waze is like escort with gps? Well, I tried the waze and ended giving out locations to other wazoos because the V1 is just that accurate.


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For the lidar, if they zap you and they don't get a reading, is It safe to say that they'll think you have a lidar?


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A few times I have been zapped and been caught off guard. It takes a second or two to recognize the tone because it goes off so infrequently and I am usually not expecting it. Then I have to move my sunglasses out of the way in my ashtray and hit the switch. A few times I have been late in turning off the switch and passed the cop with the unit jamming. Not a problem. Just last week I was zipping up to Tahoe on Highway 80 and the thing went off when I was going 78 at night (conditions were safe at that speed). Totally caught me off guard because they normally don't zap at night. He was on the left shoulder when I passed him. I'm sure he didn't get a reading until I was very close to him.

 

They are human beings, not machines. It's more likely their first thought will be that they misfired the laser gun, so they will normally try aiming and "shooting" you again before determining they can't clock you and that something may be up with your car.

 

I have been using Escort detectors since the 90's and don't have anything bad to say about them. I currently have 2 9500ix's, one in the Range and one in my M3, and also use Waze. Perfect combo, and has saved me so many times I've lost track. My brother has a redline in his M5, and my other brother has a 9500ix in his Tacoma, and both of them have a heavy foot, but none of us have had any tickets in years. But I also do know a few people who swear by the V1. they all have their positive points, all depends on which one you really want.

 

Escort passport for me. Love it. Saved me quite a few times.

 

Bought my first V1 back in 1993. Sent it in a while back for reprograming and they sent me the new updated, thinner version. It's paid for itself many, many times. But like everyone else here, i'm awfully tired of the false alarms. Where i live and commute, it's going off about 80% of the time to and from work. Ive gotten to the point where i have the volume down so low that if you're not sitting in silence at a light without the engine running, you can't here it. I've kind of grown accustom of just glancing at it when i'm exceeding the speed limit. I've contemplated getting another unit but quite honestly, i have a mental block about it because of those stupid arrows.

The false alarms from stationary structures don't bother me so much. But every ****, Audi, Mercedes, new Caddys, and some high end Lexus vehicles drive me crazy. And on the highway, i get false alarms by about 30% of the 18 wheel trucks. I've read somewhere, that you can customize the V1 to NOT report a certain frequency of radar. So i'm contemplating the journey of researching what frequency these rolling false alarms use and silencing the report from the V1. But the imagined time and effort involved with that seems quite daunting.

I'm interested in learning more about using the V1 in conjunction with waze.

 

It's in the manual in the V1 website which signal you want disabled. Or you can just change it to L or logic mode.


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Passport MAX works great !

 

Mr Tonka, I disabled X-band on my now retired V1, and that got rid of maybe 50% of the false alerts I used to get while driving in the city. http://www.valentine1.com/Lab/techreport3.asp

Virtually no law enfforcement agency uses that band anymore anyway, but lots of supermarket door openers still do... And I had mine set up to the "big L" Logic mode. Still got lots of false alerts, but not nearly as many as before the reprogramming. Waze is great, but one more distraction so use with caution. I also suspect most of my sidestreet shortcuts and "secret" traffic workarounds I took advantage of routinely in the past have been used up and become just as congested as the main thoroughfares over the years, thanks to that friggin' app.

 

Thank you very much for all of your input! Any of you who have custom installs of you dash mounted detectors? What are your experiences on the installed radar detectors? (Beltronic STiR, Passport 9500ci)

 

I think that all radar detectors work pretty well. Some will filter false alarms better than others, but basically, they make noise when zapped. I'm using a 10 year old remote Whistler model in my RRS. It does what I want which is alert me when I'm being shot at. I like it because it is out of sight and does not appeal to theives and cops can't see the thing from the back. It was less than $300 and easily installed by myself. I think more important than the brand of detector is that the detector be used in conjunction with a laser detector/jammer, at least in California. In NorCal, laser cops seem to be everywhere. I certainly wouldn't feel safe traveling fast without my Laser Interceptor unit.

 

The V1 and escort both have radar and laser detecting capability.


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By the time the laser detector detects that you are getting zapped, the officer is pretty much writing up your ticket. Gotta go for the jammer.

 

Blendmount and Mirrortap into the overhead panel is the way to go. Looks OEM. Took me 20 mins. Powers up when unlocking or opening the door. Powers off after a fews mins when engine off, or doors closes (or locked). Don't think about it any more.

View attachment 132681

Easy power connection:


View attachment 132689

Just need the longer mirror tap:
View attachment 132697

 

Yes, there are 2 camps, I have been in both. Years ago had a couple V1's. Decided to try a 9500ix for kicks as I was starting to entertain full installs, was expecting to be disappointed, but ended up loving it and moved to the 9500ci. It's now been about 5 years and I have installed 6, yes 6 9500ci's, including 2 Rovers. I find them invaluable...my cars get the 9500ci immediately. I use the 9500ix I originally bought when I travel, and the few days between getting a new car and having the ci installed.

If you're a techy, the Escort Live functionality works really well, and keeps improving, I have this on all my 9500's, xi and ci. We have so many red light and speed cameras in Chicago now that alone is worth the protection.

Laser shifters have saved me COUNTLESS times too...if you're only detecting laser, it's too late. The new 9500ci kit includes the Laser Pro shifters which are regarded as some of the best shifters available.

My last 2 installs also included the Radar Mirror, a slick install for any radar, they do this for the V1 too.

And yes, the "arrows", I was never an arrow fanatic myself, but the patent ran out and the 9500 display now includes some arrows with the Live integration, my guess only a matter of time before they are enabled for all functions. I think this was one of the remaining arguments for V1

 

From Adam76:
"Laser shifters have saved me COUNTLESS times too...if you're only detecting laser, it's too late. The new 9500ci kit includes the Laser Pro shifters which are regarded as some of the best shifters available.
My last 2 installs also included the Radar Mirror, a slick install for any radar"

I can echo adam76 & vett. I just got the escort9500ci (custom install) put in + integration into the rear view mirror. OMG.

So much more effective than I recall of the portable units. I have bee zapped by radar and laser ~10times(!) in the last four days on a road trip. I agree with vett about detection v. Diffusion for the laser. You have to have this otherwise you are exposed.

Every time I got zapped, I looked around, sometimes as much as 20seconds later (!) and saw the originator of the signal. I am going to do what adam76 did and put these in each car, immediately. I am considering the xi for rentals.

 

I concur - have had Escort 9500 Cis on my last 4 or 5 vehicles. I just today installed the Beltronics STIr in my Cayenne because I wanted to upgrade to AL Priority shifters. I never had a problem with the shifters that come with the Escort, but Escort has failed to update them for newer laser, which is disappointing. The Bel is mechanically identical to the Escort (made side by side, I think), but it works without having to use Escort laser shifters. The Escort will give you an error message if you don't use their shifters. For remote radar detection, the Escort signals on Ka were incredible. Expecting the same exact range from the Bel.

And the Escort laser shifters saved me a number of times on the NJ Turnpike. I wouldn't replace them if they were installed in a car, but because I got a new vehicle last week - I figured I should upgrade to the best shifters on the market today.

 

I love the 9500. Works awesome. Even if u forget sometimes where the tricky cops hide or the speed cameras are it saves your butt being able to not allow the cop or cameras to lock your speed. Heres how i got mine setup

 

Also the rear blocker/sensor they recommend it be placed above the licence plate but i felt it got in the way of trying to open the back latch. So i moved it to the rear bumper and it works fine and blends in with the black part of the rear bumper. The good thing with this system is being able to customize it yourself. You can mark locations yourself. And the more you drive it the better the system is. It remembers false k bands and wont warn you of them after a few times driving by that false alarm.

 

I have had Escort Passport SRX (older version of 9500ci) for many years and have had good luck.

On my new rig, I ordered the AL Priority (with STiR radar head integrated) and have not looked back. The system is awesome, completely programmable (I turn off X and K to avoid blind spot false alarms). They are very good on continuous updates to adjust for new laser systems, etc. The heads are small and very stealth. If you are considering a custom install (hidden/stealth) system, it is definitely worth looking at. You can read reviews of them all at radarandlaserforum.com

 

careful sans K. i got nailed a coupe of years ago inadvertently b/c the K band had failed on my V1 and i didn't know it. local cop in am small jurisdiction - he propably couldn't afford a new radar gun with Ka.

 

Update on my V1 loyalty. I love the V1 since 2003. But I guess unless it fails, I would have kept going and recommend it. I just travelled to Ontario Canada over the weekend and that's where the V1 is so vulnerable like a sitting duck. The range of the V1 is also it's frailty. The spectre RDD can detect it even miles away. So, even if I was not speeding, it was confiscated because it is illegal. It was on mute with remote display and did not realize it until it was too late. I called the escort company and compared their detectors and only the redline and 9500ci(installed one) is invisible per company customer service. Just ordered one and will see if it works well beside my other V1. I have contested the ticket btw.


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