[B R A N D X®]

Hard-Wiring a V1 is the very first and frequently only mod I do to any new car. I have three installed in various cars currently and have had them on board my cars religiously since 1996.

I've gotten tickets while running with a V1 three times in 14 years, but have been saved more times than I can remember.

IMO, it's the best RD on the market and while it won't save you 100% of the time, using a V1, along with proper driving tactics such as scanning your rear-view every few seconds, slowing down when approaching overpasses and checking what's coming down on-ramps will definitely help even the odds.

I don't advocate aggressive or irresponsible driving, but let's face it, most owners of high-performance cars are going to open them up from time to time when the environment is reasonably safe to do so.....otherwise what's the point of driving one on a public road at all?

As Mike Valentine says in his print ads.......it's all about "situational awareness".

As for the 9500iX.......I'd certainly consider one if you live in an area with tons of false alarms; fortunately I don't have that problem where I live and only have one known false during my daily 35 mile commute. The V1's arrows are essential for me at this point. I'd only consider another manufacturer's RD if they begin implementing a directional alert system of their own now that CM's patent has expired on the arrows.

I'm also a bit loyal to Mike V., because my first RD was an original Escort Fuzz Buster (about the size of a Kleenex box!) that he designed in the early days of RD development and it was incredible. In those days the cops hadn't caught up to RD usage yet so if you were running one of the original Escort RD's you were as close to fully cloaked as you could get with Vascar being about the only thing you could be nailed with!

I'm definitely biased towards the V1 because my loyalty is to the man who invented it; a pioneer in the RD industry since the 70's. I've stuck with the V1's because they work!