Obviously there are plenty of threads on here about brands of radar detectors but have we ever debated if they are really worth while.

I use to have one on the STi when I had more of a lead foot and honestly it did me no good. I used to collect them like they were going out of style. Since then ive not gotten a ticket in the last couple of years, neither on my truck or the bike. Ive just got a bit more disciplined and patient.

Im considering getting one for the firebird just because it tends to stick out but really am debating their value. Alot of the time when they signal you its too late. And with instant on radar nowadays there just isnt much you can do.

Anyone on here have a good one and can honestly say its saved them a bunch of tickets?

[Edited on May 27, 2007 at 7:18 PM. Reason : ...]

5/27/2007 7:16:34 PM

just do 0 → 9 over and save your money

5/27/2007 7:50:13 PM

^ive gotten a speeding ticket for doign 5 over. although your right i generally stay between 0 and 9 over.

the question is can anyone claim that detectors really are that helpful?

5/27/2007 8:15:55 PM

well in nc if you get a ticket doing 0 → 9 over, it doesnt go on your insurance and pretty much gets laughed out of court

5/27/2007 8:17:33 PM

Quote :

"well in nc if you get a ticket doing 0 ? 9 over, it doesnt go on your insurance "

Only true if it's your only one in 3 years. So it can still cost money.

5/27/2007 8:40:57 PM

^^yea any ticket can bite you in the ass

5/27/2007 8:48:59 PM

it's still gonna get laughed out of court (unless maybe if you were doing more and the cop gave you a break). typically if you get a ticket like that, you were either speeding more or doing something else and the cop just wrote up a smaller ticket to give you a break, although i'm sure there are extra-asshole cops out there who've actually written a "real" 0-9 ticket.


i have a Valentine 1, and it's saved me a number of times just since January when I bought it. Saved me for the first time within 30 minutes of the first time i plugged it in. if you aren't going to speed, obviously don't waste you're money. if you are going to speed, i'd get a radar detector (I say that having gotten away with a lot of speeding without one, but I'd feel naked without the V1 now), and if you're going to rely at all on a detector, you'd better get a good one.

oh, and keep in mind that you still need to be using your head and your eyes to the utmost of your ability. the detector can't do it all.

5/27/2007 8:50:16 PM

V1s are the standard and have been for years. If your detectors let you down in the past, then chances are you didn't have a V1 to begin with.

[Edited on May 27, 2007 at 9:19 PM. Reason : ^ yeah, paying attention helps, too.]

5/27/2007 9:18:50 PM

Generally I dont speed. But just like anyone else im prone to putting my foot in it a little more than necessary passing someone, accelerating or whatever. Thats when you get bitten, i dont cruise fast. Then there are always those times when you honestly dont realize how fast your going.


My fathers got a V1 and I always thought it was benefitial to have the direction arrows to indicate where it is coming from.

5/27/2007 9:22:09 PM

if that's really all you speed, i'd just pay attention and use my head.

if you're gonna straight up disregard speed limits, get a V1.

5/27/2007 9:30:50 PM

^How could you tell that it actually helped you?

I'm skeptical myself. If the beam is already on you, it's too late. Thus, they must rely on picking up reflected beams. It's even harder to believe this being effective against lasers.

5/27/2007 9:45:15 PM

well yeah, that's more or less the whole idea behind radar detectors.

the same thing can work against a laser, but obviously nowhere NEARLY as effectively. fortunately, if you live somewhere where lidar is a significant threat and you don't mind throwing a little money at the problem, you can make a car effectively invisible to laser (eventually they might clock you, but by that time, you will have had more than enough time to slow down).

also, laser is pretty short range and always stationary. keeping your eyes peeled and your head in the game will go a long way.


^and what do you mean how can I tell it actually helped? It's given me significantly advanced warning (most of them time...occassionally just enough warning) of cops in the area when I was speeding.


the very first time it saved me was on I-85, approaching Greensboro from Durham (on my way to FL). I got a spike on the V1 and slowed down...before long, I saw a cop sitting blatantly obviously in the median. I mean, Helen Keller would've seen him. V1 is still sounding alarm. Threat counter registers "1". As I pass the cop, the directional arrows still point ahead, instead of moving to side, then rear. Instead of thinking I'd passed the threat, I stayed about 5 mph over the limit, and sure enough, there was a trap around the next corner. You never would've seen him in time--you would be dead meat for sure. I cruised on past him a little ways, then gassed it again.

[Edited on May 27, 2007 at 10:05 PM. Reason : asdfas]

5/27/2007 10:00:44 PM

and any rain at all will completely fuck up laser

5/27/2007 10:01:41 PM

http://www.radarbusters.com/belescortvalentinearticle.cfm


No love for the valentine

5/27/2007 10:01:54 PM

there are like 14 threads on this. get the newest/best escort/bel has to offer (8500 or better) or a v1. anything less and you're wasting your money.

5/27/2007 10:03:59 PM

yeah, i've never used an 8500, but i'm sure it's a worthwhile tool.

I concur that I wouldn't trust anything less, though. bang for the buck, it might be better than a V1...it's also probably smaller, lighter, and sleeker, if that makes any difference to you. I seriously doubt it has anything on the V1 in terms of ultimate performance, and I can assure you that the V1s arrows and threat counter aren't just hype or a gimmick. they are the money.

I say all that as someone who absolutely did not plan on buying a V1 when I went detector shopping. I wanted to buy the ultimate detector, period, cost be damned, and figured that surely SOMEONE had surpassed Valentine by now. Well, I did a lot of reading, and it sounds like the 8500/Bel whatever are really good, but still not quite on par with the world-beater. There's that new mega-expensive unit that claims to be so perfectly shielded that no detector-detector can catch it at all...but again, in terms of usefullness as a radar detector, it appeared that, as best as I could discern, that the V1 was still the yardstick (and it's awfully damned tough for most of the "detector-detectors" to catch. Unless you live in VA or are a trucker, i'd never buy a detector based on that metric.)

[Edited on May 27, 2007 at 10:12 PM. Reason : asdf]

5/27/2007 10:08:03 PM

Here's a very interesting thread from a cop forum on how cops see radar detectors:

http://forums.officer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57808&page=1&pp=25

5/28/2007 12:45:24 AM

Quote :

" the very first time it saved me was on I-85, approaching Greensboro from Durham (on my way to FL). I got a spike on the V1 and slowed down...before long, I saw a cop sitting blatantly obviously in the median. I mean, Helen Keller would've seen him. V1 is still sounding alarm. Threat counter registers "1". As I pass the cop, the directional arrows still point ahead, instead of moving to side, then rear. Instead of thinking I'd passed the threat, I stayed about 5 mph over the limit, and sure enough, there was a trap around the next corner. You never would've seen him in time--you would be dead meat for sure. I cruised on past him a little ways, then gassed it again."

In that situation, typically, the cop just didn't care about you. Cops' radars have a range that usually makes detectors fairly pointless, by the time you detect them, they've already seen you. The only use i ever found for my radar detector was when i passed a grocery store or gas station the motion detector would set off my RD, causing me to take a quick look at my speed...

5/28/2007 7:18:21 AM

hell with todays gas prices i can't really afford to speed anymore, just have it in the top gear and coast it at as little of RPM as possible

5/28/2007 8:01:15 AM

^^ what kind of detector did you have?

5/28/2007 11:19:06 AM

^definitely not a V1

Quote :

"In that situation, typically, the cop just didn't care about you. Cops' radars have a range that usually makes detectors fairly pointless, by the time you detect them, they've already seen you."

no way. first of all, the range isn't THAT great. 2nd, unless you're the only car around, they have to be close enough to be able to distinguish which car is speeding. finally, a good detector like a V1 will alert at plenty of range. i can't think of how a cop could possibly EVER get me with radar unless he used instant on, and if he's on the highway popping instant on with any frequency, he won't get me then, either. they might get me with LIDAR, or VASCAR, or maybe even pacing, or maybe write me some bullshit ticket or a C&R or something because he knew I was speeding but didn't have any means of saying how much, but I'm pretty confident that I won't be ticketed by any RADAR other than instant-on/POP.


oh, and I won't run if he's behind me with the lights on...but, well, I have a pretty fast car, and I'm a pretty good driver, and if I can prevent him from ever getting anywhere near me and turning the lights on, then so be it. We both have a job to do in that situation.

[Edited on May 28, 2007 at 12:11 PM. Reason : asfd]

[Edited on May 28, 2007 at 12:12 PM. Reason : sdfadsf]

[Edited on May 28, 2007 at 12:36 PM. Reason : uykjfgk]

5/28/2007 12:11:19 PM

^^^^^ what a bunch of amazing douchebags. I guess it sucks getting picked on every day in highschool, then having to settle for the Highway Patrol because you weren't good enough for the Marines. My only hope is that only the douchiest 1% of LEOs post on a cop forum.

oh, and not to mention overconfident and not grounded in reality when it comes to radar detectors (the overwhelming majority, at least). they have this idea that since they've caught people with detectors, they must be useless. If they rode with me for a while, they'd sing a different tune.

[Edited on May 28, 2007 at 12:59 PM. Reason : sdfa]

5/28/2007 12:35:06 PM

Yea POP would be my only concern, and like you said if they are doing it with any kind of frequency it wont matter anyway.

One nice thing about having it this weekend in particular is it would easily have picked out all those damn cop cars that have been staged all along 40. Half of them were empty but if they werent and I had been speeding much i would have been busted. Some pretty good hiding spots. Some not so good ones.

5/28/2007 12:42:46 PM

i've read polls where people are asked if they use a radar detector or not and if they've gotten a ticket or not. people who don't have radar detectors receive fewer tickets because they speed less. if you don't want a ticket, then don't speed. people who speed get tickets. period. radar detector or no radar detector.

5/28/2007 12:59:13 PM

^^well sure...it's like a condom. if you wanna be 100% sure, don't have sex. that sucks pretty bad, though, so most people play the (pretty good) odds. occassionally you will either come home with the funk or get someone pregnant (i've managed both, on seperate occassions thank God. gotten some tickets in my day, too).

if you never, ever wanna get a speeding ticket, don't speed. if you wanna speed, get a top shelf radar detector and you'll be in much better shape.

[Edited on May 28, 2007 at 1:04 PM. Reason : asdfsf]

5/28/2007 1:03:16 PM

just got back from driving with my V1...i passed two RADAR-equipped "what's your speed" signs...

the first was facing AWAY from me and around a gentle curve. V1 alerted at 1/2 mile (was watching digital odometer click off)

the second was facing towards me, but i forgot to look at the odo when it first started lighting me up. as I passed it, though (so facing AWAY from me at this point), V1 still alerted for a full 1/4 mile (from the rear AND facing away from me).

i'll try to notice next time when it alerts from the front on a radar sign facing towards me (the most likely real-world scenario)

5/28/2007 6:23:45 PM

anybody know where I can get a Passport 8500 X50 in town?

I really dont want to have to resort to eBay, but I might have to, I want one with the red display

5/29/2007 1:01:30 AM

I think best buy sells them

5/29/2007 9:13:45 AM

I've got an 8500 X50, bought about 1 year ago. It's saved me many times, usually alerts me in PLENTY of time (way more than the cheapos I've used in the past). I find myself speeding way more than I used to, though

5/29/2007 9:32:03 AM

tint seems to affect the sensitivity of my radar detector.

5/29/2007 6:56:18 PM

anybody had experience with using radar detectors while in a convertable with the top down?

Im thinking about getting a Passport 8500 x50, but Im not too sure about how loud it will be.

5/30/2007 12:36:55 PM

It is plenty loud. I've got a Passport 8500 that I've used in my Wrangler and S2000 with no problem. I turn it up all the way and then lower it just a notch so it isn't at ear splitting level.

5/30/2007 12:50:16 PM

Quote :

"I use to have one on the STi when I had more of a lead foot and honestly it did me no good. I used to collect them like they were going out of style. Since then ive not gotten a ticket in the last couple of years, neither on my truck or the bike. Ive just got a bit more disciplined and patient."

So you don't think the whole "flashy car with huge spoiler" STi had anything to do with it, opposed to your truck?

LOL

5/30/2007 1:13:45 PM

Quote :

"occassionally you will either come home with the funk or get someone pregnant"

Why didn't you use morning-after pill?

5/30/2007 1:13:45 PM

Is the V1 worth getting over the 8500? Also, aren't they coming out with a new radar detector to replace the 8500?

[Edited on May 30, 2007 at 1:14 PM. Reason : .]

5/30/2007 1:14:06 PM

I just bought a Passport 8500 x50Red a couple months ago, and it's paid for itself already with the speed traps around philly...

Get either the x50 or a v1 with a veil laser protection kit and have no worries

5/30/2007 2:07:27 PM

Quote :

"So you don't think the whole "flashy car with huge spoiler" STi had anything to do with it, opposed to your truck? LOL"

it does to an extent, i agree, but i also own a bright red cbr that i have managed not to get a ticket on either.

5/31/2007 6:04:33 PM

Quote :

"Why didn't you use morning-after pill?"

it's a while after the morning-after when you find out you're pregnant.

she was on the Patch, and we wrapped it up all but once.

Quote :

"Is the V1 worth getting over the 8500? Also, aren't they coming out with a new radar detector to replace the 8500?"

in my opinion, for a variety of reasons, the V1 is worth it over the 8500 (caveat being that I've never used an 8500, but that wouldn't really affect any of my reasons). I'm sure an 8500 is good enough to be a useful tool, though.

Bel has already come out with the STI Driver, but unless I wanted to use it in DC, VA, or a commercial truck, I'd just get the V1 (I debated this when I bought mine).

Quote :

"it does to an extent, i agree, but i also own a bright red cbr that i have managed not to get a ticket on either. "

in my experience, what you drive does make a substantial difference. However, I never ran into much trouble on my sportbikes (and I speeded like a mad dog on them). I don't know if they figure you're gonna run, so they just leave you alone, or if they figure you aren't too likely to really hurt anyone else, or if they saw me in my leathers on a GSX-R and figured "shit, he's on a high performance machine and looks like he knows what he's doing...20 mph over isn't really hurting anything."

6/2/2007 5:22:22 PM

Quote :

"just do 0 ? 9 over and save your money"

hahahhaa, i was in court one day and some dickhead cop had actually given someone a ticket for 3 over - the judged even lol'd for a bit on that one

[Edited on June 2, 2007 at 5:34 PM. Reason : ]

6/2/2007 5:34:21 PM

buy a used silver crown victoria from the highway patrol and speed like hell. wave when you pass the cop clocking you. ive done it.

6/3/2007 2:03:43 PM

From that LEO forums (yeah what a bunch of assholes btw) but:

Quote :

"If I light you up with the Radar and you slam on your brakes, you just earned a second ticket."

What "second ticket" is this? Reckless driving or something?


ahh the guy answered it later in the thread:

Quote :

"Here it is called a "unsafe stop" and is a infraction."

man, what a douche.




oh and then listen to this guy:

Quote :

"In Illinois they legal to own and use one, but where is another story... Illinois Vehicle Code; 625 ILCS 5/12-503(c) "No person shall drive a motor vehicle with any objects placed or suspended between the driver and the front windshield, rear window, side wings, or side windows immediately adjacent to each side of the driver which materially obstructs the driver's view." $75 citation for Obstructed View"

he writes tickets for obstructed views if people have radar detectors

[Edited on June 4, 2007 at 2:28 PM. Reason : ]

6/4/2007 2:24:17 PM