russo

I have the K40 in my 996 and CTT. I use the Passport on my other two vehicles. The benefits of the Passport are cost and flexibility. The disadvantage is that if you do get pulled over it is much tougher to get out of a ticket. The K40 is stealthy but very expensive; however, I have been able to talk myself out of a ticket on three separate occasions.

Mike in CA

I've owned both Escort and the Valentine. IMO, the arrows on the V1 which let you know where the radar signal is coming from, make it much more effective and the clear winner. Having a detector beep at you without telling you whether the signal is to the side, behind, or in front, or not be able to track multiple signals, is lame by comparison.

PHX 911

I have a K40, and think it is superior.
I'm not affiliated with them, but I must say I have experienced good customer service. When I bought the car, I was told the remote just needed batteries. Well, the remote was broken. i called Calibre asking how much a new one was - $189 - holy ****. The tech said to send it in and he'd take a look at it. He fixed it free - can't beat that!
I don't have laser protection, though. K40 has a license plate diffuser, but in AZ we don't have front plates, and I don't want to mess up the looks of the car.
Any ideas, other than buying another complete detector?

LvnTheDrm

I have really been impressed with the Escort 9500xi...the database of Red Light Camera intersections and known Speed Cams and trap areas is pretty darn cool. I struggle with having a black detector cluttering up my windshield...but, it's a tradeoff for extra assistance with Situational Awareness (or "SA" as many of our Military folks have mentioned before). Oh, the Passport has a quick-release button that makes for a smooth transition to the glovebox...Just 4 extra seconds of effort. No biggie (for me).

LlBr

Yes, I'd be happy with just one, for instance: If they made the antenna part of the unit separate and therefore much smaller so the whole thing didn't have to be stuck to the windshield.

BTW, as far as laser? There's no reason to get a laser detector unless it's also a laser jammer. Therere no reflections or scattering to detect: The instant you get hit by laser you get the ticket: unless you jam it.

Condor

I don't like clutter. And I think the CHP have a pretty tough and dangerous job. So I'm all about 11/99 Foundation, but I'm glad I got in before the price went up.

Of course, it is a guarantee of absolutely nothing... but it can't hurt to support a worthy cause.

boolala

As far as the comments as to where the threat is coming from the K40 has two lights on the dashboard that indicate the direction too (don't know about the Escort). If you get hit from the side then I imagine both lights go off but they can't get a speed measurement from the side. All I know is that quite a few people have the K40. I have yet to hear of a single person with the (installed) K40 getting a speeding ticket although I'm sure it has happened. OTOH do a search of RL and you will find plenty (and I mean plenty) of people who got speeding tickets with the V1. Somehow the drivers all try to justify these incidents by blaming themselves a very unAmerican trait. I concede that these data may be skewed by the fact that far more people have the V1 than the K40. Don't get me wrong--I admire the cult of personality that the maker of the V1 seems to engender. People are incredibly loyal to this brand and I have no doubt that the product works as advertised. It probably does have the longest range yada, yada. The practical significance of this, however, IMO is nill. The loyalty of V1 supporters for the brand is legendary however the practical consequences of this alleged superiority, IMO, are simply an urban legend.

jfr0317

You mentioned that you have yet to hear of a single person with an installed K40 getting a speeding ticket. What about close range instant on radar? I don't see how a K40 (or any other radar detector, for that matter) would provide any protection against that (other than alerting you from some distance when the instant on is being used on another vehicle).

LlBr

How about degrees of loyalty? Me? I just like V1 because I don't have to puzzle over where the cop is because of the arrows. Otherwise I think the V1 looks cheap and boxy. Actually all the others look over-styled and cheap too IMO, The 2nd generation Escort Passport was nicest looking, it had a solid metal alloy quality (non-plastic-junky) simple functional non-trendy look/feeling to it. Had the serious quality and feeling of avionics. Pic below.

sullivas

In Connecticut on I95 They have radar jammers mounted to poles every couple miles. Do the detectors
above still work despite the blockers? Thanks.

JFA65

Russo, how do you talk Texas patrol out of tickets three times?

Mike in CA

Boolala, IYO what is it about the K40 that results in fewer tickets? (Well, you did mention there are lots fewer of them). It's apparently not superior directional information or range. Personally, those two V1 features seem pretty critical to radar detector performance in general and would actually have significant "practical consequences", as opposed to just being an "urban legend". So your anecdotal evidence of the number of tickets for the K40 versus V1 seems a little odd. But maybe you know of other performance advantages of the K40 that would bear out your assertion.

I don't think most buyers of radar detectors care about personality. I have 3 V1's in my cars; if the thing didn't perform to my satisfaction I wouldn't care who made it, and certainly wouldn't buy it more than once. I admit I don't know that much about the K40. I gather that it's stealthy installation is a major selling point and in places where radar detectors are illegal, that would be a huge plus. Having an installation that's completely hidden is a nice cosmetic feature as well, although $1500 seems a little pricey. But we P car owners have it to burn.

My V1 installation isn't nearly as trick as your K40, I'm sure, but it's not too obvious and it works very well at about 1/4 the price. I haven't had a ticket in any of my vehicles that I could blame on the detector. I realize it's "un-American" to blame myself, but I'm pretty sure it would be unfair to blame the V1 for that time I passed another car on a 2 lane road right in front of a cop who wasn't using radar.

Porsche917K

I think the V1 is still the best option out there, but I also don't think a radar detector alone is enough these days. IMO a V1 and a good front jammer is what you really need if you spend much time on the road.

boolala

All I'm saying is that of all the people on this forum who have installed the K40 I have yet to hear of a single one that has gotten a speeding ticket. If there is someone out there (or someone who knows someone who may thinks they may know someone) who has gotten a ticket with the installed K40 I would like to hear about it.

Is the K40 better at instant on? I don't know enough about the electronics to judge. I'm not claiming it is. As I recall you have to program the V1 to detect instant on because by default it would give you too many false positive alarms. Not very reassuring.

What I am claiming is that in a practical sense you bought the radar detector in order to avoid speeding tickets. If you're not getting speeding tickets then I don't give a hoot how many bells, whistles, arrows, green flashing lights, theoretical range, electronic sophistication etc you claim for the unit. If it works to avoid speeding tickets then it works. The rest is just propaganda.

One keeps hearing over and over how the V1 gives directional information. Well the K40 gives directional information too so how is that a distinguishing feature?

texas911

+1, I have a V1 but hardly use it since its so big and heavy. I hate it when it falls off the windshield mount and puts a nice divot on your leather dash! You'd think that by now V1 could do some miniaturization and use some LED technology.