The points in your license are reflected in the insurance premium and of course we recommend to keep your speed within allowed limits, but in case you found yourself on the market for a radar detector our small article may give you some vital information and direct you to the right spot.

- How radar and laser guns measure your speed
- Why they make mistakes
- How they are used unfairly
- How to protect yourself
- Can a radar detector find police radar before it finds you?
- Are radar detectors legal?

Find the answers in this small article on CARiD: http://www.carid.com/images/escort/i...ar-secrets.pdf


We selected the top 2 models of Radar detectors that definitely deserve your attention:

#1 Escort® 0100016-1 - Passport Max Windshield Radar Detector
* Click on the picture to view specs and prices.



Long-Range Radar Protection
Traffic Sensor Rejection
Web Ready
Multi-Color OLED Display
Mini USB Port
Audio Speaker
Comes Fully Equipped
Limited One Year Warranty


# 2 Escort® - Passport 8500X50 Windshield Radar Detector with Red Display
* Click on the picture to view specs and prices.



Enhanced Radar Protection
Exclusive AutoSensitivity Mode
High-Performance Laser Protection
3 High-Resolution Meter Modes
Ultra-Bright Matrix Display
Mute and AutoMute
Comes Fully Equipped
Limited One Year Warranty

You can also read more about this manufacturer here: http://www.carid.com/escort/

Have you ever used a radar detector on your vehicle?

 

I don't drive without it. I bought a Passport back in 1987 and recently upgraded to an 8500. They have collectively saved me thousands of dollars when I wasn't closely paying attention to cruisers lurking by the road side with their electronics and might have driven by them when potentially exceeding the posted speed.

 

+1 I don't leave home without it! They are very effective, but not foolproof. And by no means are they a substitute for common sense. After racking up a few citations due to relying on inferior detectors, I plunked down the cash for quality ones that have paid themselves off over and over.

On another note, I must respectfully disagree with the OP that the Passport Max and the 8500X50 are the top 2 models (perhaps they are the most popular, but by no means the best in performance). Personally, I consider the Max & Max2 a joke. The 8500X50 is very good, but it doesn't sit at the throne. Of course, there is no "one-detector-does-all" but for the absolute best in performance (in the windshield mounted category), the Escort Redline and the Valentine One have consistently proven themselves to be at the top of the food chain.

I own them both and the Redline is my tool of choice for rural driving, as it has unmatched line-of-sight and off-axis detection range. For all other situations I turn to the Valentine 1 due to its arrows that show the direction of the radar source, and number of radars in operation (especially handy when one cop is taking radar readings, and another one is farther down the road to catch those that start to speed up as soon as they pass the first cop). The V1's range is not as good as the Redline's on Ka band, but still plenty good enough to give ample time to react. Both of these leave all other detectors in the dust.

 

I laugh at the V1 arrows...come on, seriously? I have been driving with radar detectors since 87, I have owned cobra, whistler, escort, K40, laser interceptor, V1, beltronics, AL Priority and a few other along the line, including a custom built whistler with an antenna in the K band that would jam everything in the K band... had a 40" wave guide on it, compliments of electronics warfare techs and Electronics tech onboard an Aegis cruiser during deployment... circa 94. bad news is that the radiation it emitted was hazardous.

Soooooo.... with real world use, the V1 has huge gaps in coverage especially with todays speed cameras, speed traps, radar drones and red light cameras... V1 would have you a ticket quicker than a hop around the block in Cleveland. Country they still use X band and 80% or radar used in the state is gotta be K, I have been all over it and very rarely run into Ka band. Laser is used when the weather is nice. Also up here, we have radar drones that measure traffic flow, guess what band? K! yep police K band! So being spaced at every mile your V1 is going to go off, because you can't turn off K, which is why I built the very first Distronic Plus interface in 07, it wasn't as fancy as MidCity's but did the job.

So here the best would be any of the Escorts/Beltronics with GPS and the 3 year database. favorite is the Stir+ with the AL Priority Laser jammers

So in a nut shell EuroDriver, the V1 has gaps, huge gaps when compared to any of the GPS Escort/Beltronics units, especially if you find yourself in an unfamiliar area. because if it is the same drive every day at the same time then you know where al the cops are and the radar detector is pointless.

Further I wouldn't buy from CarId an Escort or Beltronics, I would buy from them and look for discount codes

 

Also about laughing at the V1 arrows... seriously, it is a distraction, and is nothing but marketing. "It's got arrows!" "boggie alert" you are driving fwd at 20 over, do you really think the guy at 90 degree's from you is legitimately going to be able to get your speed? Nope, because the angle of onset is to great. I also forgot to mention I was state certified in FL to run radar, as my shore duty was base police/physical security with exclusive jurisdiction which meant everything went through Federal court not the local municipality and you had to be certified in everything like a real cop... I ran radar every night also, just pulled up on a one way road and shut my eyes, any vehicle coming down the road, the Doppler would pick it up and I would open my eyes never issued a ticket though

 

Yes, seriously. It's nice to know when one trooper is already behind you and there's still one (or more) ahead of you. In fact, it's very informative to know if they're ahead of you or coming up from behind to begin with. It's just smart intel, unlike the Escorts that you have no idea where they're at, and once they're behind you, they programmed in an extra long, lingering alert that basically just amounts to false info and is downright annoying. Arrows to the side immediately tell me not to worry about it (as we all know that a radar shot from the side is worthless).

I guess you haven't looked at the V1 in quite a few years. There's no gaps in coverage and fully customizable. It covers X, but I run it with X off (since my only concerns here are Ka 33.7, a very rare 35.5 and laser). I also have a dedicated display that provides bandwidth info, strength and number of hits. I can set it to ignore positive falses (i.e., speed signs on the roadside) and record all hit activities. This is without the need for a paid subscription, like the Escort products. In addition, if you lock out a signal on an escort, you automatically set it to ignore everything in a 1/2 mile radius - not safe at all. This is not the case with the V1 - it locks out a very precise signal.

We are talking radar detectors here, not jammers (which are illegal) so I don't see what your point is. Anyway, glad you are a radar elite commando and I'm sure you can provide us with invaluable, top secret tech stuff and pointers but for us everyday drivers, I'm sure a lot of it is overkill.

Anyway, as I stated in the beginning, there's no "one-does-it-all" detector and there's different strokes for different folks. I found what's ideal for me.

However, if you read the literature, nothing comes close to the V1 or the Escort Redline in detection range which is what I clearly pointed out I was talking about. On the other hand, read the reviews and tests on the Passport Max (especially the Max2) and see how they fell flat on their face. Now that's nothing but marketing gimmicks.

 

V1 doesn't tell you about speed traps, traffic cameras etc... database from escort is 3 years free. I have friends that the V1 and sometime when I ride with them, I just shake my head, they ignore the V1 most of the time because of the false alarms. Which is why I got rid of mine awhile ago. I just don't see the feasibility of it anymore, same with the K40 a great front and rear system, but the use of the GPS and the database kills it.

also cops usually are going 15-20 over if they are coming up behind you, I am usually doing 20-30 over so an occasional look in the rear view mirror you can spot em. The V1 design of the rear facing radar is genius how he did it... but it is a feature not common around here

I see your point about no "one does it all" but they can be grouped as modern gps or old school limited "usable modern features"

 

Escort's database is expensive and it sucks. I use Waze - thousands of times better and it's free.

I have my V1 dialed in and I get less than 1 false alarm per week, no exaggeration. Sounds like your friends just don't know how to use their V1.

I spent weeks researching detectors. I was all excited about the Passport Max2 until I really found good info on its performance - it's a ripoff. The V1 does not have all the bells and whistles of the newer, fancier, more colorful detectors out there, but it does its job and does it extremely well - much better than the pretty boys. [EDIT: pair the V1 with the YaV1 app & Waze and it blows away anything with built-in GPS & paid database subscription]

It seems obvious you really dislike the V1 for some reason (I see you're in Ohio - do you work for Escort or something? You really seem to be pushing them, despite the proven info on their products' shortcomings) but you really shouldn't spew so much false information about the V1. By your own statement, you gave up on it years ago, so I think it's fair to say you haven't kept up on its updates and improvements. As dated as it is, the data out there proves it's still among the best-performing detectors in the crowd (arguably still only 2nd to the Redline). I can tell you first hand it still performs better even without some overpriced, anemic subscription (which I tried and switched to Waze in a mere 3 days). The V1 fits my needs like a glove, you don't like it - fair enough. You're not going to convince me otherwise, as I have tried many others out there and I'm sticking to my V1/Redline combo (unless you're going to throw some top secret, gnad-melting ultra spectacular performance, military gadget my way!) "which is the best" is a never-ending debate that has been going on for years and I'll repeat for the third time, there's no one detector that's best for everyone.

Anyway, my point is that there's many options out there, some (like the V1 and the Redline) are much superior to the Max or 8500X50. Readers should make their own, informed decisions.

 

Don't work for Escort, they are southern Ohio, I am up North.

 

In my vehicles I run

3 9500ix Wife's Lexus and my girls Civic and Rav4
V1 Savvy / Distronix and ALP laser jammer 4 heads / camera / ZR1 Corvette
BEL STiR+ and ALP laser jammer 5 heads / front and rear camera ML63

All work well...luv the Escort/Bel for gps speed camera/red light camera defense and the biggest....gps lock outs

 

Geez, you are running some serous countermeasure equipment there! I don't dare run laser jammers down here in Southern California. More than the misdemeanor, I'd probably lose my bar license!

On my setup I didn't really care much for the Savvy. The YaV1 app works much smoother, plus I found the lockouts feature much more comprehensive than the Escort system, but that's just a matter of personal preference.

On the windshield mounts - what's your favorite?

 

The local constabs really push the rear photo laser (we don't run front plates) so laser jammers a must..
Altough the Redline is a topnotch windshield performer it doesn't have lock out gps..if you're comfortable using a stand alone monitor like iphone/waze/savvy/etc then it opens the door to many good units...Redline I'd say is best for sensitivity,,V1 or course for arrows but it's tech is getting old..I'd surmise he V1 patent will soon lapse and you'll see many other co's offering directional indicators..
A new kid I'm not too familiar with yet is http://radenso.com/product/radenso-pro-radar-detector
I surmise it comes down to preferances...but I still luv my BEL STiR+...has filtering capabilities, gps lockout..quite good range..stealth and integrates with the ALP if I wish

 

Two heads rear


Three heads front...STiR+ antenna seen left center facing behind grill





ZR1 jammers

 

With the 3 9500ix's I hardwired them into these visor kits for a sort-of covert effect with sufficient slack to operate the visor as needed..(I must get my girls to yet populate the pouches/discs to distract from the detector pouch presence). I know they will not be bothered to remove the detector at university/shopping so hopefully this will keep them in our possesion and the driver window intact
And yes the gps functions fine up there

 

Very nice! I gave up trying to do visor mounted. The suctions cups have been fine, and I added a tint strip to keep it more concealed. I rarely bother pulling it down, unless the car is going to be parked for a prolonged period of time, or if I'm in a sketchy area. I use Waze for the traffic alerts, etc. They did away with camera tickets down here, so they're no longer a concern for me.

V1 does have a rather dated look, although with YaV1 it's up there with the GPS enabled detectors. For me though, simpler is better. Valentine research has something cooking and has applied for some new patents. However, it could be weeks or years before they release something new. The sweet part is their guarantee that their units won't go obsolete - an upgrade fee to anything new that comes out is a fraction of the cost of buying a new unit.

Here's how I set up my V1 with the concealed display and dedicated display with YaV1

Dedicated display for YaV1 app (displays bandwitdth of each hit, does auto lockouts, allows customized band segmentation, logs hits, etc).





Valentine's concealed display





I put a non-metallic tint strip on the windshield for added concealment, both from LE and from curious looky-lou's

 

 

Thanks for the pictures! If you need more specs on the radars, or a price quote - let me know!

 

That is not so concealed, plus with the phone in the ash tray, you take your eyes of the road. which is why I advocate the ease of the K40 LED lights and the Escort/Beltronics voice. Plus concealed/integrated to me is the cluster display of an Escort/Beltronics unit, mounting something on the a lip isn't considered integrated nor concealed

 

This is how I mounted my BEL controls and usually run it on audio only..I feel that hearing the threat usually is sufficient but I can run visual if I wish and accessing with the eye is immediate and close to road sightline

 

I think it's cool how some installed the alert screen into their rear view mirrors...and I tried ..but I just couldn't get my $2000 mirror apart without risking totalling it

 

 

Wow, you guys are hard core. I don't drive far enough typically to use a radar detector, but do break out the V1 for road trips. Has saved me from a few speed traps on the East Coast.

 

V1 for myself, as well as my two teenaged drivers, and of course the worst offender in the family, my wife. Zero tickets.

While the V1 case has remained unchanged, the guts are continuously being updated. If you go onto the Valentine website you can enter your units serial number and if there's an upgrade for it it'll let you know.

If yours is fairly new the upgrades are free. Older units can still be brought current but there's a fee.

 

I use a V1 in my daily driver and a battery op escort solo 2 in my SL, here in the congested northeast driving at triple digit speeds will get you jail time as you will stand out like your car is on fire. I find on the highways your best defense is keeping your eyes open and in the mirrors, both my detectors come in much more handy when you are hustling down the back roads. The V1 has better range and the arrows, the escort would be great if I never had a V1.