Radar Detectors... Worth The Investment??

[E92Baked]

What's your opinion guys ? Do they really work ? Can They really detect it all ?
$400 dollars is pretty steep. Is it worth every penny?

[Georgeair]

IMHO, absolutely. They will not save you from a well run laser setup, or even from a skilled operator with K band or an iteration thereof. But over time, they will avoid many, many hits by the casual LEO cruising around with radar on, sitting in a neighborhood, side of the rode, etc. clocking everything that moves, etc.

I ran Passports back in the early 80's and have been a V1 fanatic since the early 90's when Mike Valentine, a geek to some but a hero to many, took detection to an entirely new level. I nearly choked on the price of the first one just like many others, but it is a nearly perfect product. Someone who has never used a detector will poo-poo the arrows and counter, but after using it a year or so you'll never be able to imagine going back. They WILL help you avoid tickets better than a standard detector.

Do they go off near stores, etc. on occasion? Yes. You'll be able to filter those out in your head, or at least bring it down from Mach 1 for a moment.

I can't imagine driving my Yukon XL without one, so I SURE can't imagine driving this car without one!!!

[OddJobs]

X2,

Espcially if you do alot of highway miles where radar is used more. They are not 100% fool proof but very effective most of the time. There still is the threat of "instant on" radar, but still are a usefull tool.

If you are easily annoyed then you might want to look at the Escort 9500 xi/Ci since they track and lock out false alarms with GPS.

Gas Can

[Space Ghost]

The detector is only one of the tools to avoid radar. First is the traffic ahead you see breake lights slow down. Next is your own eyes. You cant just blindly speed along/ You have to keep your eyes looking for speed traps (amongst other things). But having the arrows does lend some level of comfort and I had both a V1 and a passport.

[MaximumPwr]

Hell yes it is worth it. I've had them since I've been driving. 34 years old now. Been saved many times.

[SHADY1]

The V1 is one of the the best because you can tell what direction the threat is. I have a V1 hard wired in my M3 along with a police laser gun jammer called Laser Interceptor (LI) this is if you want some serious protection is when you get a laser jammer as well. You also have to do your own research and understand the different devices the police are using.

On my wife car she has the BEL STi driver. If you ever plan to drive in the state of Virginia this would be the perfect radar detector to have because in Virginia the State police have this device called the Spectra RDD it is a Radar Detector Detector they can tell if you have a radar detector that is illegal in that state and you will get caught even if you have a V1, but if you have a BEL STi driver radar detector you won't get caught because it is one of two of the only radar dectors the Spectra RDD can't detect My wife car also has the laser jammer called the Blinder M25 laser Jammer she also has a laser shield license plate cover and Veal anti laser protection on the head lights and this car has been shot by laser at least 10 times and 3 of those times was on purpuse just to see if the jammer really worked it and it did

here are some sites you should look at if you want to get a radar detector and laser jammer combo or individual you might also want to get a license plate laser shield cover

http://www.1stradardetectors.com/

this site: is if you are interested in the LI (Laser Interceptor)

http://www.laser-interceptorusa.com/index2.html

this site is just some extra info on the Spectra RDD

http://veilguy.blogspot.com/2008_01_01_archive.html

Good luck on a detector no matter what you do its worth the money $$$

[emjei]

Well I learned the hard way....got my Valentine today>>>>after getting A $ 250 fine weeks ago

[Subw00er]

Yes. if its saves you once, its just paid for itself. They last years. I love my escort 9000 series.

[ebohon]

Yes. Worth it unless you stay within 10 miles or so all the time. There are different frequencies used, in Cali, cops seem to use Ka mostly and sometimes radar laser. The X and K band are a waist of time but luckily I have the Escort and it learns fake signals...otherwise all the bands from stores, building alarms, etc would drive me crazy. On the highway... it has paid for itself and I witnessed it first hand when I backed off a guy in a 300 when he got hit by Ka a few hundred meters ahead of me...around the corner was a highway patrol officer and he got pulled over... we were both doing over 100 and i had time to back off to about 80 before I came around the turn... the other guy didnt. I had at least 3 other similar situations but because I was the one on the lead, my Escort saved the other guys and they prob had no clue and were pissed I slowed down til we came up on the cops with their radar guns.

[DevJ]

Shady, Which Laser Interceptor on that site do you have? and where did you get it installed?

thanks!

[ersin]

Yep. It's worth it. But, don't expect them to notify you of every cop in the area. They are just an aid. It is up to you to learn how to interpret the detector's alerts, to have the discipline to heed all warnings, to mount it correctly, and most of all pay attention to the road.

Most of the time that my V1 goes off I have already spotting the LEO. Those times it has alerted me before I found 'em myself have saved my butt. But, even as good as the V1 is (and I believe it is the best), it will miss once in a great while, especially when it comes to laser.

My recommendation is to get either the V1, Escort 9500* or the Bel STI (only the Bel if you travel in Virginia). Each has their advantages and disadvantages but any one will do the job. Spend the money on one of these top notch detectors and forget about the rest.

[bigjae1976]

The only problem I've ever had with the V1 is when I come head on with a moving patrol over a hill and I have the radio turned up. Otherwise, its never failed me.

Over the 4 years I've had my V1, it has saved me over a dozen times. A worthy investment!

[E92Baked]

Just bought Passport Escort 9500xi. Been only 2 days but I feel so much more confident when I take my quick sprints on highways!!!

[jaydoc1]

In Colorado, very useful for radar but unfortunately the Laser detection just lets you know the cops just caught you speeding. Laser jammers are a class two misdemeanor moving violation.

[Nawaaz]

I'm in love with my Passport 8500i x50 (red). It performs fantastic, looks very good, and saves my ass a lot!

[ColoCane]

Originally Posted by jaydoc1

In Colorado, very useful for radar but unfortunately the Laser detection just lets you know the cops just caught you speeding. Laser jammers are a class two misdemeanor moving violation.

Hey, Jaydoc1... I'm in CO too and really want the clean install of the 9500ci. Class 2 Misdemeanor -Moving violation, fine plus points? Do you know how much of each? Can probably tolerate the fine, but obviously don't want to rack up points. Don't worry... not looking for a formal legal opinion, counselor. Just looking for a clean install, but don't want to waste a lot of money, if I can't use half the system. Quite the quandry...

[jaydoc1]

Originally Posted by ColoCane

Hey, Jaydoc1... I'm in CO too and really want the clean install of the 9500ci. Class 2 Misdemeanor -Moving violation, fine plus points? Do you know how much of each? Can probably tolerate the fine, but obviously don't want to rack up points. Don't worry... not looking for a formal legal opinion, counselor. Just looking for a clean install, but don't want to waste a lot of money, if I can't use half the system. Quite the quandry...

I have been trying to find this out myself. The reason being that the '06 X5 4.4i I just bought my wife already has one installed. I've had her just keep it off until I can find someone with the actual answer to this question. Some Class 2 Misdemeanors have some mandatory jail time associated with them and although I don't think that applies to moving violations, I'd hate to have her be the test subject.

Once I find out for sure I'll have her turn it back on. I understand that the way to use it in Colorado is to turn off the jammer the second you get hit. Apparently lasers frequently return error codes to the user and they just shoot you again when they receive one. Ideally by this time you've shut off the jammer and slowed down. Some sites report that the Escorts return fewer error codes to the shooter and they just get a blank screen which is even better.

[asp17]

Originally Posted by E92Baked

Just bought Passport Escort 9500xi. Been only 2 days but I feel so much more confident when I take my quick sprints on highways!!!

Awesome Radar!!! I bought that and the V1... Ended up returning the V1, it to was great but too many falses in my area and theres no use of a radar if I have to turn it off half way to work. Escorts GPS Learning feature rocks!! after 3 weeks it learned all my routes to main places and NO falses ONLY threats but no arrows... Only if V1 had a learning lockout feature.... IMO

[tweak84]

i have the V1 and it has helped me plenty of times, my only complaint is that it goes off all the time when there are no cops around, it drives me insane, it really goes crazy when i drive by Walgreens for some reason, its def worth it to have one but i wish they were better at blocking out the false alarms

[2thdr]

Originally Posted by SHADY1

The V1 is one of the the best because you can tell what direction the threat is. I have a V1 hard wired in my M3 along with a police laser gun jammer called Laser Interceptor (LI) this is if you want some serious protection is when you get a laser jammer as well. You also have to do your own research and understand the different devices the police are using.

On my wife car she has the BEL STi driver. If you ever plan to drive in the state of Virginia this would be the perfect radar detector to have because in Virginia the State police have this device called the Spectra RDD it is a Radar Detector Detector they can tell if you have a radar detector that is illegal in that state and you will get caught even if you have a V1, but if you have a BEL STi driver radar detector you won't get caught because it is one of two of the only radar dectors the Spectra RDD can't detect My wife car also has the laser jammer called the Blinder M25 laser Jammer she also has a laser shield license plate cover and Veal anti laser protection on the head lights and this car has been shot by laser at least 10 times and 3 of those times was on purpuse just to see if the jammer really worked it and it did

here are some sites you should look at if you want to get a radar detector and laser jammer combo or individual you might also want to get a license plate laser shield cover

http://www.1stradardetectors.com/

this site: is if you are interested in the LI (Laser Interceptor)

http://www.laser-interceptorusa.com/index2.html

this site is just some extra info on the Spectra RDD

http://veilguy.blogspot.com/2008_01_01_archive.html

Good luck on a detector no matter what you do its worth the money $$$

Nice informative post, Shady! Did you hardwire your LI? If you did, had you considered the use of the wireless SpeedCheetah connection?

[elp_jc]

It's an absolute necessity if you don't drive at the speed limit all the time. Although I have to say they're useless against the stupid speed cameras, at least without POP, which I don't have (that's what the cameras use, correct? If cameras work on POP, it's time for an upgrade.

What most V1 owners don't know is it has a ton of programmable features. I disabled the 'X' band, and now hardly ever get any false alarms. It's the best detector out there IMO.

[tweak84]

how do you disable stuff on the V1? id like to disable the x band cause thats the one that goes off the most