laurentv1

Following on another post about speeding tickets, can we discuss radar advice on brands? models? and even installers in Orange County So Cal...
Thanks; L.v

carsrmyvice

There are two camps for basic radar/laser detectors. Those who prefer escort and those who prefer valentine 1. Both are excellent. The v1 tells you the direction you are being hit from which can be useful, the escort 9500ix is much better at weeding out false alerts. I have the 9500ix and I love it. Both will run you around 500 bucks. There is also a more discreet 9500ci which is essentially a sleek built in 9500ix for $1600 before installation, which is usually done by a shop. Many also pair their detectors with a laser jammer. These units, when installed properly, jam the laser signal giving you time to slow down and turn them off. When you see laser come up on your standard detector it is often too late, which is why people buy the jammers. Some popular jammers are escort zr4 and laser interceptor. These will run you another 450 and 550 respectively (uninstalled).

SM_ATL

^ could not say it any better. I have both and have quit using my V1 because of false alerts. There were so many of them that I ended up not paying enough attention... And got a ticket!
Escort 9500 works great and the GPS functionality helps a good deal. I also have a laser jammer (Blinder) and have been ticket free for a while.
I ran the V1 and the 9500 side by side to test them and there wasn't a real alert that the 9500 did not detect. Same thing for the V1, but it was beeping every 300 yards for all kinds of door openers, etc

goatboy

I'm in the V1 camp. I want to see every wif of X,K, or Ka out there. I'll decide what's false or not. They're still using X in my neck of the woods.

Knowing if the radar is in front or behind you is worth all the false allerts in the world. I was zipping along I-10 in Florida, when I got a radar ahead signal. Up the road, there was an FDOT (truck police) cruiser sitting in the median, just before about a 1/4 mile of wooded median. As I passed the FDOT cruiser, V1 said the radar was still ahead of me. On the other end of the wooded median, an FHP was backed into the trees, shooting us from behind as we went by. These two Bubba's were hunting radar detectors, but they couldn't trick the V1.

I suspect a new V1 is coming, with better filtering. They're alreadly offering some kind of Droid app with signal processing, and lots of pretty pictures for your radar intersecpt officer to look at while you're driving. Valentine's patent on the arrows has expired, so expect arrows on Escorts, and better filtering on V1's any day now.

The second half of the speeding game is tactics. You need to know when it's dangerous to speed, even with detectors and LASER jammers.

Trivia: Dirty, black Pontiac Firebirds with the headllights retracted and no front license plate are completely immune to LASER.

LASER detection really says "The ticket you going to get will be from LASER." I don't have a jammer, yet. The good news about LASER is they have to aim and hit you, and they have to have their windows down to do it. In Florida, at night, that means he's going to get eaten alive by skeeters. So, LASER is mostly a daytime threat here.

holminator

"Jammers" are snake oil. None of them have enough power or directionally focused to do the job. Straight physics. I respectfully challenge anyone to produce a lab test that proves otherwise. Such a test should not be done by the manufacturers or a "lab" that is wholly funded by them.

Otherwise the V1 and Escort are fine machines if someone knows how to use them in combination with an eyeball and some simple combat tactics (think like a cop...where would a trap most likely be).

Fact is all of us can avoid tickets by paying attention, stop talking to your passenger or phone, no texting, no drinking coffee/water, stop playing with the radio, or picking your nose. And then there's the day dream factor. All of those distractions will kill you and the family in the other vehicle. Just my two cents.

As for Orange County, I'm clueless. I would not let a non-Porsche tech touch my ride until someone else is used as a Guinea pig.

SM_ATL

The 'snake oil' jammers saved my bacon many times. They are not a 100% guarantee but they work in most instances. I have owned the Escort 9500ci and the Blinder and have been satisfied. Just saying...

alg1367

The jammers are not "snake oil". With that said, there is a huge variance in their effectiveness, depending on which you choose. The Laser Intercepter is hands down the best. The ZR4 is not as effective -- ranging from cutting down the capture range on the latest guns to jamming other guns right down to within a couple of feet.

See here for a fairly scientific test with no connection to a retailer:

http://www.guysoflidar.com/july-2008...mmer-test.html


Keep in mind that proper installation is CRITICAL for a jammer - if the heads are off axis they won't function as designed. Although I am not from the area, I would imagine you can definitely find someone in the LA area who has experience installing these on ferraris, etc.., which should make them qualified.

Mike in CA

One thing the OP should know with respect to jammers; they are illegal in CA. Also, there is a way to program the V1 (explained on their web site) to ignore some types of signals and thus cut down on falsing. I think the directional arrows put the V1 above the Escort, but TEHO. BTW, unless you're planning something custom, DIY installation of a radar detector, including hard wiring it to a switched circuit in the fuse box, is really easy with simple tools and very modest skills.

rijowysock

i go without, not because either doesn't work but i feel it gives you a false sense of security.... focus on cars ahead of you and look for brake lights... generally a great method and keeps you more aware of the road.

i've had this and that and jammers in my vehicle but then you feel invincible... my 2 cents. (then again i like orange corners on cars too so i'm just a weirdo)

DrGiggles

any recs for installers in the tri-state area?

duxsi

laurentv1 - where is the majority of your driving done - Highways or byways?

TTCarrera

I've had both and currently prefer Escort because:

1). GPS capability that automatically shuts off the K Band alerts the third time you drive past all the automatic door openers at the supermarkets & Target stores within your daily travels. The GPS also alerts me to upcoming Red Light Camera intersections and even allows me to "mark" any location to give me an alert if I'm approaching something important...like a 20 MPH School Zone.

2). Most people who have had both believe the Escort is more sensitive to radar and pick up an alert sooner. Even if it's only a tie, the above #1 reason is the tiebreaker.

3). The Escort 9500 iX and installed 9500Ci are both updatable by plugging it into the USB port of your laptop. You also get a periodic email to tell you if you should update your state's redlight camera databases and this also includes periodic firmware updates.


As for the Arrows that the Escort does not have? I seem to have greater discipline that most of those who believe the arrows are the only way to know there is a SECOND police radar location beyond the original FDOT radar. If I hear radar, I slow down. I do not then assume it's the only radar within 50 miles and immediately put my foot into taking it right back up to 100 mph. Anyone who does....arrows or not...is dumb as a box of anvils.

SM_ATL

^ This
When I was using the V1, most of the times, the arrows would help me understand where the false alert came from. With the 9500, I stay -well- under the speed limit as long as I hear an alert, and even then, exercise caution when I get back on the gas. Simple common sense.

chuck911

Why am I not surprised nobody has mentioned the importance of watching your mirrors???

As Spidermans dad said, with great speed comes great responsibility. I could explain but why bother when Dr Bigone has already? http://www.ibiblio.org/rdu/a-10fly.html

Sorry for the lack of advice on detectors but the truth is the Rules will save you more than any detector.

goatboy

The arrows and I really screwed with an FHP coming back from Sebring on I-75 one year.

I picked up a weak Ka behind me. It stayed weak (zero, one, or two dot on the intensity scale). As the Ka got slightly stronger, I sped up and got to apoint where it was steady (about 90 MPH). It was getting dark, and all is could see were pairs of headlights behind me. The V1 would go quiet when either the FHP or me went down into a valley. Eventually, I could figured out which set headlights was the FHP, and he was slowly gaining on me. I kept it about about 90 MPH until there were just two cars between me and the FHP. I'm sure he had a visual on me by then. Only then, I slowed down to 74 MPH. The FHP pulled up beside me, gave me a dirty look. Then, he pulled a few car lengths ahead of me and blasted me with his rear waveguide (eight dots, solid tone) just to say hello. Then he took off into the night. Luckily, my turn-off for I-10 was coming up.

I couldn't have pulled off this childish prank with anything but a V1.

Yeah, Escort is far ahead with useful bells and whistles. But, I'm not giving up the arrows.

One of my cop relatives calls me a "professional speeder," defined as having a fast car and a radar detector.

Between the arrows, bogie counter, and flashing arrows to show the direction of the strongest signal, I get a pretty detailed, accurate, complete picture of what's going on.

The FDOT/FHP trap in the median apparently worked at catching a lot of non-V1's getting back on the gas.

With a V1, I would have likely caught the FHP on the other side of the woods, even though he was shooting us in the *** after we went by him. In such a situation, I pick up his beam reflected on the back of his targets ahead of me. I always make sure I have suffient targets in front of me. Tactics.