More Radar Detector Nonsense

I got nailed speeding this weekend and want to purchase a radar detector immediately.

I'm waffling between the V1 and the Escort 8500. Until the escort 8500 the V1 was the obvious choice. The new Escort 8500 makes this choice substantially more difficult. I have heard out that the newest rave reviews on the Escort were done by a guy who has consulted for Escort. This guy has supposedly made a career out of slamming the V1 detector. V1 has come up with totally different ranges than this guys test and claims that they have better range in all of the relevant bands.

Does anyone have experience with the Escort 8500 in comparison with the V1?

It's very hard to find objective info on this.

Keep that Jeep under 60 big boy. Those SUVs are dangerousat at such high speed. You might plow into a nice porsche and then you'd feel horrible!

Save your money and buy a radar/laser jamming device (illegal). Most Police depts use laser for speed calibration. When the laser locks on a vehicle it's to late for making any type of counter measures (braking,etc..). This lock on usually happens about 2 seconds after the laser is deployed. Not enough time to bring your speed to a legal limit. just my .03 cents..

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84 EuroCab

[This message has been edited by Fun911 (edited 03-19-2001).]

One thing to keep in mind with the slandering of Escort and V1; Valentine Invented/designed the Escort dectectors then split and created his own company. So, the escorts are going to be quite similar to the V1 to some extent. It was only a matter of time before someone at Escort caught up with V1's technology. For my money though, I will be going with Valentine.

I brought this up a couple of weeks back, and got some good response. I don't know if the first response was someone who worked for Escort, but one respondent did buy both and used them each as a comparison, and went with the new Escort.

One of the replies led to a website that compares various radar detectors and lasar jammers...interesting reading. They like the Escort, also.

I haven't bought one yet, but intend to. Still thinking it over, I guess.

I've also been trying to decide which radar detector to buy, but I've pretty much ruled out the $400 V1 based soley on price. Even the Escort 8500 at $300 is at the upper range of what I am willing to spend. Has anyone heard anything about the Bel 980? It rates pretty comparably with the Escort and V1, and it can be bought for $240. At this point, I'm inclined to buy the Bel unless the Escort is demonstratably better.

The way I look at it, assuming the V1 is the best, I'm happy to get 90% of its performance for 60% of the price with the Bel. On the other hand, I can certainly understand someone wanting the maximum protection.

So Lee....what's the link to the comp/jammer page?

This has been brought up in the past go to http://www.radartest.com after reading that I think the escort 8500 is the way to go it beat the valentine hands down check for yourself...hope that helps

I don't trust that radartest website, I heard that Automobile magazine has done a radar detector test lately, Car & Drivers last test was 1997!!! If anyone can get their hands on independant radar detector tests in Automobile or in that BMW club or the corvette club, PLEASE fill us in.

Yeah I looked at the reviews on radartest.com as well. I called V1 and found out that Craig Peterson has a history of sandbagging the V1. V1 claims his test is wrong and that they (V1) still beat everyone in all bands. V1 also told me that Craig is a consultant for Escort.

I'm not taking sides, I just want objective info and I'm not entirely convinced that radartest or V1 is objective. Hence the problem.

Total mayhem. I mean a guy wants to go out and honestly break the law and there isn't an objective source of info to help him do it.

It's a shame.

I've been driving for the last 8 years with a Whistler detector that cost $249 back in 1993. It has paid for itself many times over. I recently purchased the new Escort 8500 and just completed a 300 miler rountrip yesterday. I was pretty impressed with the results but also have some concerns as well. The new Escort is worth the money, I'll stand behind that from the single days use yesterday. I drove my son from Charlotte, NC back to school at UNC Chapel Hill and our goal is always to make the 146.5 mile trip in 2hrs or less. The Escort started out with a lot of signals and it was confusing. I kept braking trying to determine whether I was actually picking up radar or automatic doors. It was driving me insane. I was starting to regret the purchase. My sons were joking that it was probably produced by law enforcement and would randomly go off and different intervals just to slow me down...funny..I think not. The first real test came when the K band went off and we could see the cop more than a mile in front of us with all the traffic backed up behind him. I couldn't believe how strong the signal was and how far away he was. We eventually made our way to him and realized that he was from another state and had personal use of his patrol car...running 80+ mph with his radar on...go figure. We passed him and all the other cars couldn't believe it. Several other false signals along the way...still trying to figure out the works on this thing. Return trip landed us several strong signals that turned out to be the real thing. The Escort basically paid for half its price yesterday. No radar detector is going to completely protect you. You must know when and where you can speed, watch traffic patterns so that you don't pass the cop that is doing the speed limit without running radar etc. good luck in your quest...for me, I think when I get used to how the Escort responds, I'm going to like it as much as my old Whistler...FWIW


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Shakenbake (Chris Baker)
1974 911 Coupe
'91 "A" stock champion WV
'90 SCCA FTD
'99 SCCA 3x "A" stock winner

I read the Automobile test and without remembering the specifics exactly the Passport sure seemed to do better overall than the valentine, especially with the newer radar band being used . The valentine had a better result from a greater angle of picking up the signal ( Imagine a v With the passport picking up the signal from the width of the middle of the v and the V1 picking up the top of the v. Valentine also can track several signals at once and I dont believe the passport has that capability. I am going to replace my escort with a passport based on the review. The review is very similar to the one on radartest.com.

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Bob
1982 911SC Targa
PCA - Founders Region

Well, I just returned my newly purchased Valentine. I bought it and an ESCORT 8500 to test together, and there is no comparison anymore.
I posted a question to this board about what was the best detector and more said Valentine than said ESCORT. I now can only assume that they have no experience with the new ESCORT 8500. The Valentine has always been a great detector, but they have done very little advancement in the last few years. I drove around my usual routs with the Valentine and then again with the Escort 8500 and the ESCORT blew the Valentine away. Keep in mind that this comes from a former Valentine Die-Hard.
The 8500 has vastly superior range in detection for all bands as well as LASER. The ESCORT also show the number if signals it is receiving as well as their strength, unlike the Valentines Boggie Counter numerical display.

Go to www.escortradar.com and read the reviews. While I know it is their website, they do not own the popular mags referenced.

Anyone can refute this, but I am offering my experience, side by side with both of these detectors and did it as recently as last month.

Best thing about Valentine right now is their buy back policy...

OOPS – forgot to mention the SR-1. ESCORT says it is no better than their 7500 model and that it is for more discrete mounting only. The 8500 out performs the SR-1 as well. ESCORT even says so…

The escort DOES show and identify any and all bands being detected simultaneously-it also tells you how strong and how many of each signal it is picking up. If you know radar detectors and how they work, the escort is VERY easy to use, interpret, and program to your own specific needs. It is also upgradable so you will not have to buy another one if there are any radar advancements. It comes with the discreet power plug that has the warning lights so you can turn off the main units lights at night if you don't want people to see the lights from behind. This makes the cost almost $150.00 less than the V1. The volume is loud enough to hear while playing music loud with the top off at highway speeds-a big plus! Now all I have to figure out is if it detects radar BEFORE radar detects me!!! I've only had for 5 days. Contrary to others, my experience with false alarms has been nill-I wonder if it is because I use it in the expert mode? It will detect automatic doors though, x-band, but at a low strength, so I don't pay too much mind to that.

SO, THE Automobile test picked the Passport, I believe them more than the consultants radartest.com. But the Bel 980 is almost 80 bucks cheaper (I'm on a tight budget!!!) how did that do. I could care less about X band, that's obsolete here, who was the winner for laser (no one wins there) and instant on etc. thanks guts

www.speedzones.com has some more info for ya!

So...based on everyone's experience/knowledge, which detector would most likely be able to detect around corners and stuff? There are hardly any straightaways here, so all we got is curves, and that's where cops hide. What do you all suggest? Thanks!

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Jeff
1976 911S

After reading all the comments about radar detectors, it's still difficult to decide which is the best...some people swear by V1, others escort...my Father in law likes his whistler...who knows, maybe they are all good enough. So I bought an Escort 8500. Mostly because it has a good reputation, it was there in the store, and I wouldn't have to pay shipping or wait a week for it.

It's small, it makes a hell of a racket when it smells radar, it's easy to use, it came with a smart cord and a cool leather box, and it was available.

Good enough.

Just completed another trip (417 miles) from Charlotte to Wilmington, NC and back on Wednesday. The Escort 8500 has now paid for itself in the saved from tickets category. 417 miles in 316 minutes actual driving time. This includes stoplights....75.7mph.


I like it

Doesn't the 8500 lack a visor mounting? I need something to mount on the visor, so the BEL seems my only choice. correct?