What kind of radar detector do you have on your m3

[PandaM3]

I use a combination of a V1 mounted up by the mirror and the Waze app on my iPhone mounted on a proclip on the dash... With the sensitivity of the V1 and the social tagging capabilities of waze... It has given me very good protection.

The more people that use Waze... The more sensitive and acurate it is at predicting speed traps

[MattE92]

If it wasn't for my Escort Passport 9500ix i would've had to sell my M3 a long time ago. You still have to drive the speed limit but you'll have a heads up when a cop is shining his radar up and down the street...

[TexasSpartan]

Originally Posted by MattE92

If it wasn't for my Escort Passport 9500ix i would've had to sell my M3 a long time ago. You still have to drive the speed limit but you'll have a heads up when a cop is shining his radar up and down the street...

Same with the V1 but you'll also know if he's in front, behind or on either side of you.

[WarrantyTracker]

Originally Posted by spotshooter

Get a laser shifter first. Most cops are switching to laser now. Detectors offer no protection.

Depends. I drive mostly in Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware. I get a ticket about every other year. It's ALWAYS radar.

[Raz335]

After doing a lot of research, it looks like the Escort Redline with the updated software (Band Segmentation and RDR) is the new king of portable radar detectors. I'll be going with this one very soon.

[WarrantyTracker]

Originally Posted by ersin

You might think it works fine. But a corded one has much better performance, increasing your chances of actually detecting something far enough in advance to do something about it. You can "hardwire" in a corded detector which won't leave any cords hanging. This is a much better alternative to a cordless detector assuming you choose one of the better models.


Cheers.

All true. But my real-world experience with the SOLO has been just fine. Went from getting radar tickets about every other year, to nada. There was one day a few years ago pre-detector when I got a radar ticket in DC and a radar ticket in Delaware the SAME DAY. The last straw was a reckless driving by excessive speed ticket.

[John Tanglewood]

Just ditched my V1 for a 9500xi with ESCORT LIVE. In the NY Metro area it's really a great feature to have. Looking forward to testing it out!!

[ersin]

Originally Posted by LarThaL

Can a frequency that is not absolutely identical to police radar be picked up as a false positive? If yes, then the filtering is very beneficial, but if you are blocking out actual exact police radar frequencies, then that can be dangerous, no?

Yes, any frequency within the band (and Ka band is superwide) that is not polic radar will alert, i.e. a false positive. This is where the units filtering comes in. However, you lose some reaction time and sensitivity.

However, within the Ka band, there are three different frequencies that are actually used by current radar guns in the U.S. Anything not exactly (or very close since a radar gun's operating frequency can drift) to these frequencies is not police radar. Unfortunately, all except three detectors will scan the whole Ka band all of the time.

The three exceptions to this are the Beltronics STi-R+, the Escort Redline with the newest firmware, and the Valentine 1 with the new V1 Connnection option. These detectors will allow you to set up the detector to ignore various parts of the Ka band -- called Band Segmentation (or BS) in Bel and Escorts case and Custom Sweeps for the Valentine 1. At the same time you can also turn off the Ka band filtering -- called Radar Detector Rejection for Bel and Escort and Ka Guard for V1. When these detectors are configured this way the sensitivity and reactivity go through the roof, relatively speaking, even in terms of the already impressive performance of these detectors in default form.

If you want the best, get one of these three and configure them properly. Also, pay attention when driving and learn to use these detectors. Your chances of being aware when you speed is being measure, or is about to, will go up immensely.


Cheers.

[Dumpling]

Originally Posted by highyo

passport 9500ci (which has the shifters) along with the LI BMW Dual in the front. so basically i'm a black hole.

Where'd you go for install ?

[M4Now!]

Originally Posted by ersin

When these detectors are configured this way the sensitivity and reactivity go through the roof, relatively speaking, even in terms of the already impressive performance of these detectors in default form.

If you want the best, get one of these three and configure them properly. Also, pay attention when driving and learn to use these detectors. Your chances of being aware when you speed is being measure, or is about to, will go up immensely.


Cheers.

Interesting post, which leads me to a question for you. Would you agree that a) heightened sensitivity is more important on the highway (especially with low traffic), and b) there's really no way the reactive speed of the radar detector is going to help you, given the very small amount of time required for a reading?

Here's why I'm asking: Around town with lots of cars, the odds are greatly increased that the officer will hit multiple cars in front of you with radar or laser. So, given that all of these detectors already have impressive range, sensitivity should have reduced importance around town.

Regarding reaction speed (of the radar detector), even if it alerts in half the time of the normal detector, that still pales in comparison to the amount of time required for you to react, hit the brakes etc - vs. the very short time required for the radar to calculate.

So, is the benefit of heightened sensitivity mainly a highway thing? Wondering if I'm missing something.

Cheers

[highyo]

Originally Posted by Dumpling

Where'd you go for install ?

auto design on 10th ave here in manhattan. can't say enough about Stefano. if you need his info send me pm

[ersin]

Originally Posted by M3Now!

Would you agree that a) heightened sensitivity is more important on the highway (especially with low traffic), and b) there's really no way the reactive speed of the radar detector is going to help you, given the very small amount of time required for a reading?

a) Yes. But not just low traffic. Some traffic is needed, even if it is so far ahead that it is out of sight.
b) Sometimes a second or two can be the difference you need. I'll gladly take that. Besides, if the radar is targeting someone else ahead and doesn't last long enough for the detector to detect, then you'll miss it. Reaction time does count.

Furthermore, the difference between the three best detectors and everything else is huge. Compared to cheap detectors, the performance is an order of magnitude difference.

Originally Posted by M3Now!

sensitivity should have reduced importance around town.

That true; but not of no importance.

Originally Posted by M3Now!

Regarding reaction speed (of the radar detector), even if it alerts in half the time of the normal detector, that still pales in comparison to the amount of time required for you to react, hit the brakes etc - vs. the very short time required for the radar to calculate.

See my answer to (b) above.

Originally Posted by M3Now!

So, is the benefit of heightened sensitivity mainly a highway thing? Wondering if I'm missing something.

Mainly, yes. But even in town, say at night, it comes into play. If a detector is sensitive enough to allow it to alert for someone being targeted way ahead of you then you have much more time to adjust. This is about the only defense you have for instant on type of radar operation. Lesser detectors will miss this, the better detectors won't.


Cheers.

[Dumpling]

Originally Posted by highyo

auto design on 10th ave here in manhattan. can't say enough about Stefano. if you need his info send me pm

Found the info thank you. I've been meaning to get a radar installed months ago. Put it off and got 2 speeding tickets on Sunday. With lawyers fee, it comes out to damn near the same price. Smh

[MattE92]

Originally Posted by TexasSpartan

Same with the V1 but you'll also know if he's in front, behind or on either side of you.

True but 9500ix stores false alarms, has a database of every red light and speed camera in the country. Not taking anything away from the V1 but unless your in a war and need to know the direction of the radar marking you buy the opposition it doesnt matter.

both great detectors just personal preference...

[alee0729]

My 2nd V1 just arrived in the mail today. Only about 8 more weeks before I'm reunited with my car so I can install it!

[Dumpling]

Originally Posted by highyo

yeah it's really a no brainer.

and don't speed on the FDR. ever. its 40mph. dont do over 52. EVER

i just left feedback for Stegano at that joint. i'm tellin you, was a great experience

The were both up north, not in city.Haven't had a problem yet here & planning to avoid at all cost now. Damn, never knew fdr had a 40 limit. Flow of traffic always seems 60ish.

[Dumpling]

Originally Posted by highyo

and the worst part about the 5 boroughs is that you cant plea your tickets down. i actually think there is a speed camera or laser down at the bottom of the island. my LI always goes crazy down there.

Exactly. Just gotta hope the cops doesn't show up or has no notes.

[PandaM3]

Interesting... It seems that the Escort Live app syncs with Waze...

http://www.radardetectorforum.org/sh...ad.php?t=17686

Here is what I am getting from this
1) EL will automatically post actual threats like Ka and Laser to it's cloud service as soon as one of their GPS based radar detectors pick it up
2) its not clear in the forum link, but the EL Ka and Laser threats don't seem to sync over into Waze
3) If an EL user visually spots a cop that is not using Ka or Laser or Lidar... And the user tags them on EL... That information will sync to Waze
4) reports from Waze will take 5 to 15 minutes to show up on EL... Thats kinda poor because depending on your speed 5 to 15 minutes will be too late

So what I am getting from this is to get full 360 protection
1) get a Valentine V1 with arrows... I'd rather have a hyper sensitive radar detector with a bunch of false positives
2) get Waze and run that as the main app on your iPhone... That way you get all the manual alerts from other Waze users right away. The Waze user base is so large that Waze is actually saving me much more than the V1 is.
3) add Escort Live to run as a background app, when another Escort radar detector picks up Laser/ Lidar/ Ka... That will not report to Waze, however you will get a pop up bubble on the screen and can set an alert tone so you will still see it

Downside is that you have to pay yearly for Escort Live... But using the social network to pool information from everyone around you with radar detectors is really worth it I think.

It's all about situational awareness

[paulbrenneman]

Originally Posted by PandaM3

Interesting... It seems that the Escort Live app syncs with Waze...

http://www.radardetectorforum.org/sh...ad.php?t=17686

Here is what I am getting from this
1) EL will automatically post actual threats like Ka and Laser to it's cloud service as soon as one of their GPS based radar detectors pick it up
2) its not clear in the forum link, but the EL Ka and Laser threats don't seem to sync over into Waze
3) If an EL user visually spots a cop that is not using Ka or Laser or Lidar... And the user tags them on EL... That information will sync to Waze
4) reports from Waze will take 5 to 15 minutes to show up on EL... Thats kinda poor because depending on your speed 5 to 15 minutes will be too late

So what I am getting from this is to get full 360 protection
1) get a Valentine V1 with arrows... I'd rather have a hyper sensitive radar detector with a bunch of false positives
2) get Waze and run that as the main app on your iPhone... That way you get all the manual alerts from other Waze users right away. The Waze user base is so large that Waze is actually saving me much more than the V1 is.
3) add Escort Live to run as a background app, when another Escort radar detector picks up Laser/ Lidar/ Ka... That will not report to Waze, however you will get a pop up bubble on the screen and can set an alert tone so you will still see it

Downside is that you have to pay yearly for Escort Live... But using the social network to pool information from everyone around you with radar detectors is really worth it I think.

It's all about situational awareness

I dont use waze, but having used trapster quite a lot so Ill talk about my experience with trapster. The "known inforcement points" which pop up on the map are just another source of information when youre on the road. It wouldnt be very useful if you only use the app but when combined with a radar detector it is much more powerful.

I find the most useful application of trapster is to cross analyze what trapster says with radar alerts from my V1. If my V1 goes off with a super low signal strength I can look at trapster to see where the LEO might be hiding up ahead. On its own trapser isnt super useful, Trapster gives so many false alerts that I dont even slow down for them anymore.

Of course my experience is only with trapster but as I understand it waze is pretty similar to trapster.

I find the best protection is a V1 with no filters turned on (all-bogeys mode) and Trapster running on my iphone mounted somewhere up high and in view.

[PandaM3]

Originally Posted by paulbrenneman

I dont use waze, but having used trapster quite a lot so Ill talk about my experience with trapster. The "known inforcement points" which pop up on the map are just another source of information when youre on the road. It wouldnt be very useful if you only use the app but when combined with a radar detector it is much more powerful.

I find the most useful application of trapster is to cross analyze what trapster says with radar alerts from my V1. If my V1 goes off with a super low signal strength I can look at trapster to see where the LEO might be hiding up ahead. On its own trapser isnt super useful, Trapster gives so many false alerts that I dont even slow down for them anymore.

Of course my experience is only with trapster but as I understand it waze is pretty similar to trapster.

I find the best protection is a V1 with no filters turned on (all-bogeys mode) and Trapster running on my iphone mounted somewhere up high and in view.

Thats the thing. Trapster and Waze are social based... So the more users you have the more accurate it is. Waze has much more users than Trapster so Waze is going to be more accurate.

Escort Live uses information from Waze, but its delayed which is why I run both Waze and Escort Live at the same time. (Actually today on my drive home with Waze running in the foreground and Escort Live in the background... They detected about the same, but Waze had a much better interface)

Otoh Escort Live also gets live information from its GPS based radar detectors as well. So when more people buy Escort GPS based detectors... The more accurate it is. Theoretically... If enough people have Escort GPS based detectors then you can have good coverage just using Escort Live by itself since all the other detectors are working for you.

[Mo@BMWR]

V1. Can't beat the arrows.

[lorinzo]

Originally Posted by lorinzo

Escort Passport 9500ix

Spotted 2 different CHP hiding along my drive from Los Angeles to Bakersfield toady.

Thanks Escort!!!