radar detectors, whats the best one?

[UNNATRAL]

Im from canada and the law says any type of radar detector/scrambler/jammer (anything that points out cops or prevents them from clocking ur speed) is illegal, well at least in ontario. I know there are ones out there that are undetectable. Do you guys know of any? I want one that will just tell me when a cop is closeby, i dont care about scramblers or jammers or nothing fancy, just one that is undetectable.

Suggestions?
Thank you

[Brosef]

Valentine 1

I believe it has a radar detector detector (i.e. it can tell if cops are searching for radar detectors and disable itself). I wouldn't buy another detector, and I couldn't own a car without one.

btw, I'm a bit surprised that someone with a supercharged M3 doesn't have one already. you should really get on that ASAP - it'll pay for itself quickly.

[UNNATRAL]

Originally Posted by Brosef

Valentine 1

I believe it has a radar detector detector (i.e. it can tell if cops are searching for radar detectors and disable itself). I wouldn't buy another detector, and I couldn't own a car without one.

btw, I'm a bit surprised that someone with a supercharged M3 doesn't have one already. you should really get on that ASAP - it'll pay for itself quickly.

thanks man, the general feeling towards radar detectors is that v1 is the best..might go with that one thx

[424D57]

Escort Redline and Bell STi I belive are what you're after for dash mount units. Quick search over at radardetector.net forums probably get every bit of info you could want (and then some).

-424D57

[424D57]

Originally Posted by Brosef

Valentine 1

I believe it has a radar detector detector (i.e. it can tell if cops are searching for radar detectors and disable itself). I wouldn't buy another detector, and I couldn't own a car without one.

btw, I'm a bit surprised that someone with a supercharged M3 doesn't have one already. you should really get on that ASAP - it'll pay for itself quickly.

hmm if this is true I stand corrected but did not think the V1 was listed as safe from the RDDs used in the DC area. For the record I'm not pimping the escort or bel products - I'm a die-hard V1 owner but RDDs are not a concern for me.

-424D57

[GreasyGinzo]

The Bell STI was the most undetectable

[Looper]

V-1 hands down...... Talked to a couple people who have the GPS enabled units and they say they love them why I'm not sure but they do......... Check out this website you can buy detector/ LIDAR packages, I've heard good things about their jammers especially the HP versions.
http://www.laser-interceptorusa.com/901.html

[shamoo]

Even though it may not be relevant, I would like to add my opinion...

I've been driving since I was ~16 years old (32 now) and I've had one speeding ticket, with which the cop had no basis to give me. But I was young and stupid and didn't know better. I have never had a radar detector. Drive/speed wisely and I don't think you need one. Don't speed over hill crests. Don't speed in areas you aren't familiar with. Don't speed by overpasses. If you "think" the car might be a cop, just slow don't, don't risk it. I speed like a madman sometimes and everyone is amazed I never get ticketed. I just chuckle. Personally I think it's a waste of money and it becomes something you depend on, and then you become less aware of your surroundings. I had a cheapo Uniden for a week and got rid of it since I started to "depend" on it.

Anyway....everyone says the Valentine 1 is the best. If everyone's been saying it for so many years, they can't be wrong. *IF* I was going to get one, that's what I would get. Lots of stealth mount options for being in Canada like the OP.

[Scrappy]

I agree on the IX It has saved my ass ALOT!!!!

[ES_TRADER]

I Need a detector that detects if police are behind me like say 10-20 cars back where u cant see....All the times in the past, that ive been pulled over, ITS ALWAYS a cop pulls up behind me outta nowhere...does a system like this exist?? there were never any ahead of me pointing their guns at me...ive only encountered this once but i knew they were there to begin with so i drove slo

btw, i have no idea how they knew i was speeding if they were that far back...maybe they eyeballed it? but u know, its so hard to look at a car up ahead and know exactly how fast its going

[ersin]

The BEST? That's a bit personal as to what is best. There are several measures of "best".

o Longest range: Escort Redline , Valentine-1, and STI-R (not marketed anymore but Beltronics promises the STI-R+ to go on sale real soon now). The Redline beats the V1 on a couple of bands/frequencies. But V1 owns the rest.

o Quickest reacting: V1 and STI-R (when it is set up correctly).

o Ramp-up: V1.

o Undetectability by RDD: Nearly all new detectors are invisible to RDD except for the Spectre Mark IV and Mark IV+ RDD. And for this RDD only the Escort Redline and 9500ci and the Bel STI Driver and STI-R are immune to detection. The takeyourwealth state of Virgina uses Spectes as well as many other states. While detectors are not illegal in these other states for someone driving their personal vehicle, commercial vehicles are prohibited from using detectors.

o Immunity to "noise", i.e. not alerting to non-threats: All are susceptible to some degree. The ones with the highest sensitivity tend to be the noisiest. Some have GPS which allow you to lockout static sources of radar. Reviews of how effective this is are mixed, as it can also sometimes lockout a real threat.

o Features: One must distinguish features that are worthwhile from those that aren't. GPS is a feature on some. They help quiet the detector down, but the most useful things this provides is the ability to alert to non-radar/laser threats, like redlight cameras. The Escort Passport IQ takes this a step further and offers navigation with the GPS. However, other little boxes exist that provide this for you if your detector doesn't have it. For example, check out Trapster and RadarActive for the iPhone.

The arrows are a very useful feature (IMO) on the V1. They tell you where the radar/laser source is coming from.

The Escort 9500ci and Qi45 mount remotely as does the STI-R and some others. This results in a nice clean install, but allow a few hours for a DIY or get a professional to install it. Of course, this negates any portability.

There are various other bells and whistles that I'm not to fond of. Enter yours here: _____.

What do I own? A Valentine 1. I had a Lidatek LE-30 jammer in addition but it recently broke. I'll be replacing it with the highest performing laser jammer, the Laser Interceptor, soon.


Cheers.

[bknight]

V1, but if you want the most protection you need a laser jammer too.

[kaykay]

Valentine 1

[kaykay]

Originally Posted by SehrSchnell

The only problem with laser jammers is that the cop or trooper will know that you have them... and probably getting pulled over just for that. I know it is legal, but it sure will give you *no* room to talk nicely to the cop.

Jammers, at least in California, are illegal.

[ersin]

Actually, I've seen jammer installs that are much harder to detect than the V1 tucked up by the RVM. It just depends. I'd think the LEO is just as likely to not cut you slack with the jammer as with a detector. And why would you use the V1 at the track?


Cheers.

[Looper]

Originally Posted by SehrSchnell

The only problem with laser jammers is that the cop or trooper will know that you have them... and probably getting pulled over just for that. I know it is legal, but it sure will give you *no* room to talk nicely to the cop.

I would love the opportunity to converse with the lawman after jamming his shit (LIDAR), one reason and one reason only. The last time I got pulled by LIDAR the cop was all uppity about me having the V-1 sitting up front and still getting clocked, thank god their all lazy and wont show up in court.... Case dismissed! Got to get a jammer soon tons of LIDAR in Tampa now... Bastards!

[Hunter399]

V1

[aus]

Key to a laser jammer is to slow down and turn the thing off as soon as possible and not "jam to gun" as they say.

Anyone try the new Passport iQ?

[ersin]

Originally Posted by SehrSchnell

Troopers normally don't see my hard-wired V1. It is not so much that they'll see the jammer installed on the car, but what kind of reading they get on the gun...

Nah. You ever shot a lidar gun? You have to aim it. Errors happen. Many guns don't report jamming. But for those that do errors happen from a variety of reasons (e.g. from sunlight) and show up as a "potential" jamming event. Modern jammers hardly ever throw a jam error on the lidar guns used in the US. (Europe's a different story plus using a jammer in some of the countries over there can result in jail. Very important to know if you're not in the US.)

The only jammer I know of that would consistently show a jam would be the venerable Lidatek LE-10. It was a brute force jammer. I think they went to the less powerful LE-20 and 30 models because cops were complaining of melted lidar guns.


Cheers.

[Glop]

Yeah, the trick when you jam is you get the alarm, slow down immediately and kill the jam so the cop gets a nice reading. You SHOULD NOT keep the jamming active (you risk triggering a jam detection and it's bad practice if it pisses off the cop). If you do it right the cop is just like "hey can't get a lock on this car (which happens for random reasons on a regular basis anyway as pointed out above)... try again... oh there I got it, it's fine he's doing 60".

[ersin]

Originally Posted by SehrSchnell

I understand that, but why go through all the trouble installing jammers, if you have the same effect with the V1... and you don't have to kill it quickly.

It is possible that the V1, being the best rated at laser detection, can alert ahead when other vehicles are being targeted with laser. It's happened to me many times. However, this is far from reliable. The laser beam is very narrow. Most of the time when an LEO is targeting a vehicle, only that vehicle can "see" the laser beam and hence has the ability to alert to it. By then it's almost always too late to do anything about it -- the LEO has your speed.

To get enough time to read your speedometer and then adjust your speed, you need to confuse the lidar gun so that it doesn't get a lock on you until your speed is checked. But we don't want the lidar operator to suspect that the unit is being jammed.

You definitely need a jammer if laser is threat. There is nothing more reliable than a decent jammer that is installed correctly. I won't go into what's best and how to install it here. That's another post.

But with a jammer your mantra should always be: when alerted that your jammer is jamming, check speed, adjust if necessary, then turn it off. (Don't forget to turn it back on after passing the threat. Some jammers offer a duty cycle that relieves you from being concerned with this.)


Cheers.

[Glop]

Originally Posted by SehrSchnell

I understand that, but why go through all the trouble installing jammers, if you have the same effect with the V1... and you don't have to kill it quickly.

Yes, like ersin says, if a laser hits you, it's very likely too late (unless you're very lucky which with the way the BMW front lights are set up is very unlikely). It's even worse if you have a front license plate. Anyway, you want to give yourself just enough time to adjust your speed and kill the jammer. Detecting you're being hit with a laser is pretty useless if you don't have time to slow down.