TTCarrera

Either as part of the Gen 3 installed 9500Ci or as a standalone unit in conjunction with a windshield mount detector?

Recent upgrade by Escort. Many believe Laser Interceptor was the best laser jammer/diffuser on the market. Apparently, Escort found it appropriate to upgrade their shifters. Wondering if Escort's upgrade to Laser Shifter Pro has caught up?

Anyone have it yet? Any comparisons?

enzom

Installed the latest in my 991 TT last week and upgraded the shifters in my Range Rover Sport as well. Did front and rear on both cars. Have not been hit with laser yet, so I can't really compare it to the last generation shifters. Sorry

OldGuy

Have you guys compared this to a V1? I am curious as to the differences.

enzom

Can really only compare the radar detection because V1 doesn't offer any laser diffuser.

My 9500 ci is a built-in detector. Nothing to remove when I park the car, and nothing to see when the car is parked. I have a V1, and I just can't use it. Too many beeps, chirps, clicks, etc all day. I started to tune it out The 9500 has GPS lock out. If it drives past the same X or K band signal three consecutive times, it will ignore the signal going forward. So if you drive the same busy roads every day, your ride is quiet unless there is some unusual, new threat. Much less falsing. Ka band detection, which is what the police in my area use, is great. GPS database warns you of red light cameras, too.

No arrows in the 9500, but I am on the brakes as soon as the Ka band tone starts. Whether the signal is in front of me, to my side, or behind is irrelevant. Nice feature, but of limited interest to me.

Porsche_nuts

+1, agree with ensom. Too many false alarms with the V1 that after a while you wind up just ignoring it and not knowing what is false and what is real. Moved over to Escort 9500ix, which "learns" about false alarms and filters them out.

uhear

Ive got it on mine, love it when I hear that sound - "laser shifting". Put the display on on the lower left where the dash meets the windshield and the control unit on the edge near the PDK level.

nicoff

I have had a Valentine One for many years now and it is indeed annoying to have all those chips, beeps at the same locations! I know that the Valentine One can be upgraded by the factory, but it sounds as if the Escort with all the features listed here (laser diffuser, GPS mapping, etc.) has newer technology. Looking at the website for Valentine, the current model looks the same as the unit that I purchase more than 10 years ago, but they have added new features via software upgrades (ESP, etc.). I will check upgrading; it looks like about $200.

purrybonker

Laser diffusion is such a crap shoot. I've had diffusers/V1's - you name it on my cars for years. Waste of money, really.

You simply cannot reliably use technology to speed and beat a cop determined to nail you doing so.

Two examples of stealth techniques that I've seen used by cops that are almost unbeatable with technology, there are more:

Cops (usually on bikes) cruise at 10-20+MPH over limit, approaching traffic from behind with mobile radar.

or...

Simply sit on the "leeward" side of an overpass, catch passing traffic with radar or laser from behind. Diffusers, if rear mounted are probably not effective and rear radar detection is too late. Game over.

Save that money wasted on equipment - use it on lawyers and ticket defenders, money WAY better spent. They can win almost every time in terms of keeping your license unimpaired.

At the end of the day it's not the fine that counts, it's the driving record that matters.

chuck911

Don't bother. I've had my Valentine well over 15 years. Last year it quit on me and they swapped me up the the current model. So mine has all upgrades as of 2013. In terms of false alerts it is, if anything, worse. Much worse. Still a great detector for trips, but lousy in any kind of urban area. The V1 was King back when I got mine, but they've been resting on their laurels for far too long now. If they would quit milking the revenue stream and add GPS memory to eliminate all the false alerts I'd upgrade. Until then I can't even recommend V1 to anyone at all.

enzom

I have been saved many times by my front laser shifters. Been able to slow from 90 plus to 60 because of the shifting. I haven't been hit by laser from the rear in the 10 years I have been driving with rear shifters installed. Just hasn't happened. As for radar - if a cop wants to sit there and nail you with instant on, then you are toast. But when that cop nails the car a half mile up, that signal bouncing off of that car is going to be picked up by your detector. It will give you time to slow down. I have only been nailed once with a radar detector in ten years. I was the only car on the road at 6 am, and the cop was well hidden. I didn't have a chance there. Without a good detector. I would get a ticket a month. Easily. I would need a lawyer on retainer.

Noah Fect

I'll bet it's a case of live by the patent sword, die by the patent sword. Valentine kicked sand in everybody else's face with their patented arrows, but now that the patent has expired, they are probably being squeezed by an equally critical Escort patent on using GPS for false-alarm lockouts.

As usual with patents, the only long-term winners are patent lawyers. Consumers and producers get the short straws. But still, it's hard not to feel some schadenfreude for poor Mike Valentine. The market exacts heavy penalties for sitting on your *** for 20 years, patent or no patent.