henry42

What kind of radar detectors are you using?











SL 55 at the dock- Ob. Black w/ Berry Red
2001 ML 55- 14K mi. Black w/ Charcoal
1987 560SL - 17K mi. Red w/ Tan
1986 ML 320
Any of the last three up for sale. Go to www.f40.com for photos of 560 SL

RootN4U

Valentine One is the best (IMHO)...but bulky and must be plugged in. Has anyone used the new Pasport Solo (battery)?...they claim improved "sensitivity". The previous model was merely an alert device warning me that getting a ticket was iminent..no warning!!

kodiak

I use an Escort 8500 and have had very good results with it. It has saved me a couple of times. And the price is pretty great as well. I got mine for about 250 USD. Quite a savings over the V1 400+ USD!

~dnm

anerbe

I too use an Escort 8500............very good unit. Love the mute button on the smart cord. The 8 simultaneous band readings with individual strength meters is also a favorite. Where I drive, I already learn where there are false alarms, and with any extra alerts, it pretty much a safe bet that it's the police.

Downside: If only they could make a police detector, not a radar detector...............damn instant on radar !

henry42

I wanted to hear a few replys before answering. Thanks guys.
I'm leaning towards the K40 which is an installed unit, comes with a front license plate difuser which throws off laser reading. No plugging in and around here radar detectors are illegal so you get an extra ticket of you're caught with something on your dash.
Plus in the event you get a ticket K40 pays for the first one.
Have heard that Valentine is better than escort because it also picks up readings from cops coming from your sides.

blueSL

Sounds like the repression of people exceeding the speed limit continues apace in the US, just like in the UK. Here, we have grey boxes all over the place taking pictures and GPS based devices for warning you where the fixed cameras are. Trouble is, there are mobile ones as well and the police still operate out of white vans parked on bridges over roads using laser. Plus, I came across the police with a laser trap at 20:30 in the pitch dark. Not nice.

Clamping down on speed in so blinkered a fashion is not the only answer. Speed is not the only thing which can cause accidents, lack of driver training, lack of observation at junctions and inappropriate overtaking can all play their part. I live in a rural part of the UK and they regularly scrape people off the road who have been part of an overtaking manoeuvre - incorrect judgment of speed or distance or on a blind crest or near a hidden dip.

The US driver is even more controlled than we are here in the sense of there being many more divided highways and sets of stop lights controlling traffic turning across the path of cars coming the other way. When I lived in the US, I rarely overtook cars on a two way road and realised when I came back to the UK that my sense of speed and distance had been dulled by the constant segregation of traffic travelling in opposite directions.

The US has a rather higher adjusted casualty rate than we do here and the improvement in the UK over the years can be put down to the compulsory wearing of seat belts. I was in New Jersey last year and was surprised how few people in the US (if Parsippany is a representative sample) wear seat belts.

55-BEAR

As henry42 stated "Hidden Insealation", etc. etc.

Saved my butt many times!!

"Bear"

henry42

Hey Bear: How did you're installer do the warnings lights and installation. My guy puts them in the left and right dashboard airvents. Do you have both front and rear detectors?
Back to the other posts about Escort...they say Valentine is a little better because Mr. Valentine developed the radar detector for escort then left to start his own company.

55-BEAR

[QUOTE]Originally posted by henry42
[B]Hey Bear: How did you're installer do the warnings lights and installation. My guy puts them in the left and right dashboard airvents. Do you have both front and rear detectors?
-----------------------------

Hi henry42,

Yes I have both front and rear detectors on the M5. The installer put the warning lights inside the instrument cluster on the dsahboard.

The green/yellow, country/city, on/off light is installed just under the orangish DSC off light in the center of the dash cluster and the red front/rear detector lights are just to the left of the gas gauge and just right of the temp gauge. The on/off/volume control switch is located out of sight too, on the underside of the dash panel near my right knee. The warning sounds mini speakers are located in the headliner over the drivers door and the other one is located in the headliner just above the rear view mirror.

As you know, the detectors are stealthily hidden in the front and rear of the car. {K40 including install ran about $1100}

I haven't looked into the installation for the SL55. Being that it is a convertible, obviously the warning speakers should be under the dash IMHO.

Good luck with your awesome SL, my friend.

"Bear"

henry42

I'm getting a good deal from my installer just because he did work for me before. $500 installed for a front w/ difuser.

55-BEAR

Think about getting the rear detector too. Police hidden near "On Ramps" nail lots of drivers from behind as they speed past the "On Ramp" during Interstate and Turnpike cruising. Also, cops hiding in the bushes can get you from the side too with the "Instsnt On" Laser/Radar/Etc.

I think you are almost 100% covered 360 degrees utilizing both front and rear units......... {Not really sure about the 360 degrees ??}

"Bear"

Pierre32///AMG

I have the V1 and it is worthed for the $

palbertr

Go with the SRX rather the the K40. no comparasion in range and in false alarms. The laser diffuser is a must. Here in Florida they are adding laser traps daily. They are placed in utility trucks up in the air in the buckets. They use units disguised as surveyors and also as homeless person pushing a cart or lying down on the sidewalk. The diffuse has save me and my kids many times lately. The escort diffuser was the only unit that could cloak a suburban being shot by all laser units beeing used by police. Alot of people enjoy the arrows on the Valentine and the ability to detect multiple rader units and directions.

JBSL

Go with the V1 - Once you use the arrows, you'll never go back.

JB

Chappy

Ditto

FC Corp

I have the passport 8500. Seems ok, never tried any others. I do have to "pay attention" while driving though and keep an eye on those speed traps. When driving, I prefer to keep a car in front at a distant pace (though sometimes it is hard to do).

Once, I was passing a car, they acted as though they were going to swerve into me, I honked, my laser warning went screaming. It took me a few mins to figure out it went off when I honked the horn, passing that car. I confirmed it passing other cars. Anyone else?

Dave OH

I agree with palbertr. I have an SRX and it is excellent. The Sensitivity is close to that of the V1 (within a margin that doesn't make much of a difference) and it doesn't false as much like the V1 does. also it gives you something that the V1 doesn't even pretend to have... Laser Jamming and effective legal laser jamming at that. It's expensive, but well worth it if you value keeping your liscense and you are a speed demon

E55AMG99

I used to be an Escort fan and swore I'd never buy anything else until one night on Hwy 99 near Sacramento 2 years ago. I had my Passport mounted high on my supercharged Suburban's windshield. My friend had his V-1 in a similar position on his. We were doing over 100MPH with me in the lead and my friend calls ME on the radio to say he thinks there is a cop ahead. We slowed down but my Pasport was quiet for another half mile. When we saw the CHP, he was on the other side of the road so I stepped on it again and stepped into another CHP on MY side of the road another quarter mile up. My "friend" knew he was there and stayed at the limit.

A lot of fancy talking got me out of that ticket but my friend never let's me live it down. I now have V-1s in all my cars. They have saved my butt many times by telling me the number and direction of the threats. Good luck.

liveseyd

In the UK the one to go for is the "Road Angel". Picks up all types of camera/radar
david

PS 1st go on the forum!

Limited Edition 190E

I use a Escort Solo, battery powered, radar/laser detector. Radar Detectors are illegal in Virginia and Washington DC so I don't really use it that much.

Regards,

Don