SharkSkin

Sage advice!

Mike LaBranche

V1 is the coolest device invented since The Man started using radar. I've been running one for years on motorcycles and in my beasts. Remote everything in both modes. It's paid for itself many times over and should have been installed at the factory. You'll find you can't drive without it. Excellent choice, Nicole.

Mike
84 S, blk/blk, AT
78 OB, silver/tan, 5spd

Nicole

Great link - I had not seen this before. But now I've learned that the laser won't penetrate my rear window, as it has a tint which contains metal - at least that's what it looks like....

SharkSkin

I'm not sure what you're seeing there... but if you want to quantify it someday, we can grab a couple of my FRS radios and drive past some known radar sources in the area and compare notes. If anything, I would expect the darkness of the tint to weaken laser slightly but not completely. Around here, that's not much of an issue. If the tint is metallized it may still pass enough radar to be OK. Again, we can check easily.

DoubleNutz

Yep, I have been doing more reading around the web and while the Valentine One has enjoyed a spotless reputation for years, especially within our community or Porsche drivers...it appears that V-1 is finally becoming dated.

Each of the sites I visited that seemed to offer objective advice about performance, technology, egonomics adaptability, upgradability, etc. all seemed to agree that for years V-1 has been the standard and in fact it is still a standard to measured by today. However, times and technologies are changing and for the price, V-1 appears to be lagging behind companies that one time I would never consider like BEL and K40. Detection devices of tomorrow are all equipped or can be programmed to accept some fairly nifty appliances, add-ons, and upgrades like LIDAR Jamming by companies like Blinder-X <link> that have real proven results of effectiveness against laser. Sure you can buy Bilnder -X seprately and ad it to V-1 but BEL and ESCORT both offer these types of devices as upgrade equipment incorperated directly into their concealed/remote type detection devices. Sure the concealed/remote detectors cost a bit more but I am a former user of the Escort SR-1. I was impressed then buy its performance against the V-1 and by the looks of my new research its a strong likelyhood I will be jumping in another as the Escort SR7+ which incorperates the previous mentioned Laser Jamming. The test reults of the new remote devices shows they clearly leave V-1 in the dust.

So there is lost of talk here in this thread about doing remote set-ups with V-1 and all kinds of neat boxes and stuff to put your V-1 into but can somebody explain to me the arguement for buying a V-1 again and not simply spending the extra cash for some better protection and a good clean install?

Shane

Pat that is the same route I plan to take, and since I have a V1 I'll use both. The V1 will give me the directional arrows for quick heads up, and I'll let SR7 with laser shifters do the rest.

DoubleNutz

Dave you are correct...Another reason why I am sticking with a concealed remote Escort SR7+ set-up. The Porsche Tint Band alone on the front window cut the Valentines effectiveness by almost 30% (28% to be exact) and that is down from the only 75% effectiveness through "CLEAR GLASS" ! How do radar detector manufacturers even get away with the through clear glass loss is beyond me

This is directly off of Valentine One's site <link>

Report #2
Windshields are like putting sunglasses on your laser detector. And some windshields are darker than others.


That's the lesson of the windshield test Car and Driver asked us to do for its August, 1998, issue.

TO A LASER DETECTOR, laser looks like a faint light. Spotting a faint light in bright daylight is hard to do; as a result, laser detectors provide less protection on sunny days. But on overcast days, detectors do much better, and V1 works very well at night.

The windshield changes a laser detector's vision exactly as sunglasses change yours. The view is so bright on a sunny day that sunglasses don't hurt. But your detector doesn't want sunglasses any time you wouldn't wear them. That means that darker windshields hurt laser-detector performance on gray days and at night.

TEST CONCLUSIONS:

1. All windshields provide significant losses in laser detection.
2. The least-harmful windshields still cut laser-detector range by 60 percent; the worst ones cut up to 80 percent.

3. Avoid putting your detector behind the tint band at the top, unless you're sure it has no effect. We found major losses due to the tint on some cars, and no additional losses on others.

4. Road splash on your windshield hurts laser detection, but the splash sample we tested--it was so bad a driver would stop to wash the glass--hurt laser detection less than some tint bands.

5. Recent model years suggest a trend; that car makers are moving toward glass formulations which cause greater laser losses.

DO-IT-YOURSELF WINDOW TINTING FILMS: Car and Driver supplied four tint-film samples, which we tested on clear window glass. Clear glass cuts laser range by about 25 percent, and all of the samples cut laser range by an additional 25-35 percent. Metallized films had about the same effect as ordinary tint films.

You might add a tint strip across the top of your windshield to cut glare. If so, a laser detector will suffer a serious loss of performance when placed behind the tint.

REAR-LASER DETECTION would be hurt by tint films on rear and side windows, at least in theory. V1's rear-laser performance is by far the best in the industry, but don't expect too much from it. When you're shot in the back, you're moving away, so the shooter's best shot is his first one. If he fails to get a reading on his first shot, you're so lucky you don't need a laser detector.

HOW WINDSHIELDS CHOP LASER DETECTION RANGE...what's left after passing through the windshield, arranged from best to worst.
CAR MAIN AREA TINT BAND

1989 Toyota Camry 40% 40%
1995 Nissan Maxima 40% 16%
1998 Olds Silhouette 40% 14%
1987 Corvette 32% 32%
1998 BMW 740i 32% 32%
1998 Porsche 911 Turbo 28% 28%
1998 Porsche Boxster 28% 28%
1995 Dodge Neon 28% 28%
1998 Chevrolet Cavalier 28% no tint
1998 Mercedes Benz SLK 27% no tint
1998 Honda Accord 27% 27%
1998 Honda Prelude 25% no tint
1998 Audi A8 25% no tint
1998 Corvette 24% 19%
1998 Ford Taurus 20% 13%
1998 Chrysler Concorde 18% 8%
1998 Toyota Camry 15% 6%

HOW DO-IT-YOURSELF GLASS TINTING FILMS CUT LASER RANGE...what's left after passing through the sample.

Clear glass, no tint 75%
Axius, 35% VLT on clear glass 53%
Axius, 20% VLT on clear glass 40%
Gila HPB046, 40% Smoke on clear glass 45%
Gila HPB044, 20% Limo Black on clear glass 50%

Ed Scherer

For another point of view (mine, which I'm fairly good at offering )...

I've got the remote display for my V1, but I wound up not using it because I actually like my V1 display right below the mirror. Because that's the one place I glance at most frequently anyway while driving. Pod instruments come in a distant second (for my attention). I really like Alan's advice: try out different locations before you commit to anything, because you definitely don't want to put a display device where it's too distracting or too time consuming to look at.



Another tip: if you do windshield-mount your V1, use a modular coupler behind the mirror. That way, you can completely remove/reattach your V1 within seconds. And there's no dangling wire when it's not mounted. I can take mine off with one hand in three or four seconds, while driving.

Nicole

Well, Pat, if you buld the enclosure for the V1 display from some free plastic box, all it costs is a little time. I have been told the concealed systems are somewhere between $1200 and $1600 - if that is indeed the case, that would be quite an increase in my investment.

Keep in mind that the car is rarely driven, and here in the Bay Area, I have gone around 85mph for years without EVER getting a ticked on the freeway. Yes, they crack down occasionally, but I've never seen it happen. And since they don't use laser here at all, the laser is lesser of a concern. Unless the Hiway Patrol invests in newer equipment, I think I'll be fine for a while with the V1.

Nicole

Ed: Your winshield looks as sandblasted as mine...

Alan

00,
Personally my reason is simple - I already have it - It was the best I could buy at the time (2000) and I'm not going to trade it in for a slight improvement. If I were buying again - I'd do the research all over again. Too late for my 928 though. Most of the install issues will be similar for other units too - most have remote capability, some are smaller than the V1 but mounting is still not easy/obvious.

My wife wants a radar detector for the other car - no space issues but she can't stand the V1 falses around town - so probably an Escort 8500 X50 - still looking. I'm happy to buy it for her and am sure it will be very good. I can't imagine ever taking the V1 out of my 928 though! I may upgrade it perhaps when there is a really worthwhile upgrade...

Alan

Ed Scherer

Nicole, it's not as bad as it looks. That was a flash photo, so it accents the flaws. But thanks for drawing attention to the windshield condition rather than the glare off the driver's mostly hairless head in the previous photo.

Nicole

OHMYGAWD! the driver has hair loss???

Just kidding, Ed - it was you who brought this to our attention. Not that it would make any difference in how we like and respect you.

My windshield looks really sandblasted, and I think a new one will be on order within the next year or so. Sometimes when I drive against the sun, I can't see where I'm going. Not good... I wish they would require vehicles to better cover their wheels - it would save us all from a lot of external wear. But I'm sure the body shop and auto glass 'lobby' would be against a such idea...

DoubleNutz

Window mount units:
Valentine One = $440 (w/concealed diplay mod) and cost for wiring install if you don't to it yourself.
Escort 8500 X50= $299 and cost for wiring install if you don't to it yourself.
BEL RX65= $299 and cost for wiring install if you don't to it yourself.

Concealed remote Units:
K40 = $700 and cost for install.
SR7+ = $1050 and cost for install.
BEL RX75+ = $999 and cost for install.

Alan

Nicole,
This is what my position "B" looks like - more stealthy, closer to the pod, mounting is exactly the same - if you don't like the middle you may prefer this.

.. maybe I'll leave it there for a day or two and see what I think again (it was a close thing)...



Alan