Radar Detectors
 

what is the best? I see them from 50 bucks to 400 bucks. what do you use and why
thanks

i think there is post regarding this exact topic. search under....damn i cant remember, i think it started because someone got a ticket. i believe the verdict was the Valentine model

Radar detector ain't going to help you on Highway 16, I got nailed 10 years ago coming out of Bummertown with instant on. WSP officer laughed at me & my Escort. I gave the effin thing away after that, they're a false security. Common sense is the best detector.

here's the link : http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=140119&highlight=the+on ly+radar+detector+worth

I have an Escort Passport that I have been happy with. It is simple to operate and the range has been good enough to keep me out of trouble, although I rarely drive over 100 here in the states, and then, only for a moment or two. I like to get to the speed limit (+10 or 20) very quickly, but rarely go extremely fast for extended periods. Unlike a lot of idiots I see, I never speed in neighborhoods or near schools or where pedestrians are present. That is not a risk I am prepared to take. The Passport is small, portable, and easy to swap from car to car (I only have one Pasport and several cars). My advice is that whatever detector you purchase, buy the newest model the company offers. It is like an arms race between radars and detectors...one that is a few years old will do fine against Barney and Andy, but will not protect you as well against an enemy equipped with modern weapons. Also, remember that even with a detector, you are risking a ticket every time you speed because of "instant on" radar and law enforcement cars or aircraft pacing you. So if you can't afford the penalty...don't speed....or at least not badly enough that the penalty is more severe than you can handle. From my research..Valentine, BEL and Escort top-of-the-line units are all quite capable...none are infallible.

Get a V1.

WSP hit me a few times on I-5. [ I always follow bear bait]. They would be parked down wind from the intersection on/off ramp during commuter traffic.. I never saw that act in any other state. I always thought that might cause accidents.

Calif HP are dignified with their clocking. They will wave an index finger at you if your only slightly speeding, like "bad bad boy".
and if there is more than one car involved in slightly speeding they will raise one finger for no. 1, raise 2 fingers for no. 2, and 3 for no. 3.. that's a class act..

Ohio is the speed trap capital of the country, IMO

What about those remote versions from excort?

They're quite pricey but my understanding is that any glass that the radar detector needs to read through reduces it's range. Not to mention there's nothing obviously visible for the 5-0 to see.

Need some imput before I think about spending the $600

:)

Adam

I have a BEL that my kids bought me for my birthday about 5 years ago. The only tickets that I have gotten since are when I was driving my wife's Volvo (without detector). Got two tickets in three days. One before my daughter's wedding, and one after.

My detector has saved my butt more than a dozen times. But you need to be going close enough to the speed limit to be able to stomp on the brake when it sounds the alarm, and then duck into traffic. If you're the lonely car on the road, you're toast.

I only speed on the highway, never in the city. But you need to understand the idiosyncracies of your unit. I am sure that they are all different.

I would look at:

http://www.radartest.com/

larry

although I praise the V-1..

the high end BEL was very popular with the big rig truckers awhile ago, when it was legal for them.

Getting a V1 to avoid tickets is like buying a Rolex to tell time.

I have owned several Bels over the years and they all have performed well.

They are also one of the best units around and reasonably priced.

I have a Valentine as well and I use it all the time and in fact don't travel without it . It has saved me from many many tickets on my bike which I am always driving too fast. It's a pricey unit but I have no regrets and would buy another one.

The K40 is the best out there. They have countermeasures for laser and radar, and the mount is invisible (integrated into your OEM dash) in the car, for those states that frown on such things. They guarantee you won't get a ticket...if you do, they'll *pay* it. http://www.k40.com

I have two Passport 8500's. They work flawlessly, and can be found for about $299.

I've never had any issues with range or reception.

I have two Valentines and a old Passport, and they all work just fine. I've had radar detectors since the original Fuzzbuster, in the mid-'70s, and they have saved me literally tens of thousands of dollars in tickets and higher insurance premiums. To say they are a waste of time is ludicrous. They're a waste of time if you don't know how to use them, that's all. If you're speeding alone or are the first car in traffic, yes, you'll get nailed, especially if it's a major highway or interstate, where they'll be using instant-on. The key is to always let somebody else go ahead of you by a quarter-mile or more, set off the radar and let your detector read the spillage. But on back roads and two-lanes, where the local cops cruise around with the radar on all the time (they know the percentage of cars with radar detectors in local traffic is very small), I've been warned countless times that somebody was coming or had set up a trap over the hill. Bottom line, I wouldn't be without a radar detector, and the more you pay, the longer its range and more useful its features.

Stephan

I've been thinking about putting Passport SRX or SR7 in the wifes care so I can steal her Bell 950.
So to re ask Adams question above... anyone used the new Passport/Escort built ins?

Yeah that k40 looks sweet too!

Need info on the stealth systems!

Adam

Have only owned one--a Valentine V 1. Happened to be a gift from my 18 yr old son (is he telling me something?). Like many things, one never knows the number of "saves" one has over the course of time--I never thought it would be of particular use given my driving style (10 - 15 mph above S L, generally keeping pace with traffic) I was wrong, I don't hit the road without it. See F S Wilkinson post three back--I believe it to be right on target. Steve L

Sorry guys but the V1 is the only way to go. If you don't have the arrows, you don't know where to look. If you don't have the counter with the arrows, you don't know that one signal is from a garage on the side of the road, but the other is from a trooper coming up from behind.

I do. If you have something else... All you get (as the ad says) is BEEP. Beep what?! So.. eventually you get tired of slamming on the brakes all the time, get desensitized, and then get busted.

I don't understand why anyone would use anything less. Did you just not TRY the V1? Frankly for me, it's the V1 or nuthin!

My wife and I will often say "The Valentine never lies!" after the many times it has saved us.

A friend of mine (A very high end car audio shop) here in Boulder disassembles the V1 and does a stealth install in your dashboard with the components. I think there are pics in the photo gallery: http://www.kustomkaraudio.com