Well...thank god I bought this radar 2 yrs back....Thank you Escort

The radar picked up 3 speed traps (1/4 mile distance to the trap) on Merritt Parkway (CT to NJ). Man am I glad ..coz the last trap ...the cop pulled the guy next to me as I was slowing down from 80+ to 60 mph on blind S curve.

If anybody is thinking of getting a radar detector...I highly recommend Escort detectors. The damn thing worked on the hill, exit ramp and S blind curve.

I had to get this off the chest...damn I feel lucky...

Funny thing is, most of the cars were following me after this incident...as some must have realized I have a detector. (I slow...people slow..it was a sight on the road)

There is no guarantee it will save me next time..but it does give me another set of eyes.

phew

 

You're lucky you had other cars around you because if you were alone, even with the Escort, you would have been nabbed. Happened to me one early morning outside Spartanburg, SC with a Escort Passport. The cop hit me with instant on and it didn't make a difference that I slowed after the alert.

And as an aside, aren't radar detectors illegal in CT?

 

Just curious, but was the hill you referred to at Exit 33 on Merritt Parkway? I live in CT and often drive on the Merritt. Recently, I've noticed that they've been increasing police activity all over the place which is a shame since it was a pretty fun road to drive on. But I agree, thank god for radar detectors - in fact, my Valentine 1 saved my stupid ass just last night...


BoxedUp, the only two places radar detectors are illegal in the US are Virginia and DC - they're allowed everywhere else.

 

Thanks for the clarification.

 

you don't need radar; it's useless and waste of money, but what you need on the road is accomplices (other cars speeding)

 

i also have the Solo2......it's not useless....i'm in FL and visit family in GA.....taking i95 north, there are cops hiding at night and without the radar detector, i'd be screwed....

i've had it since i bought the TSX in October, 2004 and it has saved me countless times....

 

here's a strange thing that happened to me driving... a cop was running radar off the side of the road and when I was in the beam of the radar gun I think it was aimed close to my car. my radio started to slightly beep. It would almost be like a blip that interuppted the music for like one second and returned to normal. It did that for a few times until I drove past the cop car.

 

Be extra careful in St. Johns county near St. Augustine. Troopers like that area. Trust me, I know.

 

how many speeding tickets you guys have?

10 years behind the wheel I have only 1 from 2001 and ironically it was in FL (probably i95 as I was going to GA). Oh and I've never owned a radar

 

Wow good job!

 

yes, I had only 1 speeding ticket, but I wish it was just one...


back in my younger days I also had:
- 2 reckless driving (1 deffered)
- 1 for driving without license
- 1 failed to yeild... the cop!
- 1 for driving in HOV (removed)

 

Funny thing....

I saw you "Lovemy Tsx".........I was on i-10 going to georgia and i stoped a rest area....

you were there....

 

I'm about to get a radar off ebay, do you TSXer's suggest escort solo, passport or V2? and I know their illegal in VA but if I use on there with a PA licence and I get pulled won't I be ok??

 

No, you won't be OK. I moved to VA this past summer. Driving across country...3 hours after crossing VA state line -- with my Nevada tags still on the car -- I got pulled over ONLY because of the radar detector. I played innocent...that I was moving into VA and didn't know detectors were illegal, blah, blah...and he let me go. Made me take it down though. So, bottom line, they're illegal in VA despite what state your plates are from.

 

Well, when you say "V2" I assume you mean the V1 (i.e. Valentine 1)...

Out of those, I would choose the V1 hands-down. I was debating between the Escort 8500 x50 and the Valentine 1, so I ordered both direct from the manufacturer (since they both offer 30-day money back guarantees). Comparing them side-by-side, they were fairly equal in terms of detecting abilities. The major differentiating factor between them is the directional arrows display on the V1 (in conjunction with the rear-facing radar), and IMO once you've seen how effective the arrows can be, you'll never use another radar. Being able to determine if the cop is ahead of you or tailing you truly is invaluable. Suffice to say, the Escort x50 went back, and the V1 is here to stay...


No offense to the Solo 2 owners out there, but I just don't like the idea of a radar detector being run off of AA batteries. As far as cordless detectors go, it is the best out there, but compared to corded detectors it still lacks in terms of overall detection distance (which would be the fundamental reason to have a detector in the first place). Another misconception is that a cordless detector is cleaner-looking and easier to install. If you're worried about wires getting in the way, just hardwire your detector to the fusebox, and you're set. I did that with my V1, and it's barely noticeable mounted above my rear-view mirror.

 

Accomplices are great but if you're like me, there aren't enough of them going as fast I tend to. Radar detectors DO work (to varying degrees by brand) and saved my bacon PLENTY.

Where they won't help is with laser/LIDAR. It gives off a much narrower signal so cops can use it rather surgically. Where radar's big fat beam doesn't discern one speeder from another, laser lets cops aim at a specific car, pull the trigger and BANG—instant reading, instant ticket.

My detector actually picks up laser but from only from 30-40 yards away, tops, so it's fairly useless.

Planes are a bitch to catch with a radar detector too I found out last year.

 

I like my passport 8500 myself!,...and has saved me plenty!.......police officer's don't mind pulling over a couple driver's over at a time either!.....and like you guy's also mentioned, instant- on radar cannot be beat!

 

Ditto everything you said about the V1. The directional arrows are very very nice to have and work well. I just bought my TSX so I haven't had a chance to hardwire my V1 yet. Any tips/advice on the best place to run the wires and tap the fusebox?

 

what about laser scramblers or whatever they called?

 

My passport has paid for itself many, many times over. Also plate paint works well for rolling stops

 

I know it's not the popular view, but I switched from a V1 to a 8500 X50 about a year and a half back. I thought I'd miss the arrows, I didn't. I love the display options on the Escort...plus, overall I'm seeing better sensitivity on the Escort than my V1.

I think they are both effective and recommended...it's a personal choice.

 

I too have a 8500 X50 and it has saved me many many times!
Plus I have the Blue display version so it fits well with the ambient light.

Just need to figure out how to Hard Wire it...

 

i have a passport 8500 X50 Blue as well, that thing is amazing, i was 1/4 of a mile from a pretty big curve, and that radar started going crazy!

I Love You, Escort.

 

Truthfully, the only real way to avoid the instant on radar/lidar is to make sure there is a car 1/8th to 1/4 mile in front of you. YOUR detector will alert when the officer activates for the car in front of you. In general, the officer has to be able to articulate that he/she SAW you traveling too fast, and CONFIRMED that with a radar device.

 

I believe they USED to be illegal in CT but, that changed in recent years. I used to see signs saying they were when I drove into CT. But, not anymore.

 

I have a V1 in my S2000 and I just got the new Escort 9500i that I hardwired in the TSX. Both outstanding units, and I can swith them around now from car to car. The V!'s arrows are fantastic. But the GPS in the new Escort is a really useful feature. Can't go wrong either way. And to whoever it was here who said they're useless, where are you driving?

 

I bought a radar detector back in the 90s and promptly returned it as it was giving me annoying false alarms whenever I drive by banks and what not. Is it still the same or ...?

 

For the Escort radars you can program it so only certain frequencies will go off.

 

So how would you know what frequencies to filter out for alarms from banks?

PS: by the way, would you or your girlfriend (I'm assuming) be from Vancouver? She looks very familiar.

 

Na, we're from Indiana. She's my fiancée by the way

As for the banks? Not sure.. but for me, I only have the KA and K band frequencies to show up. I know for a fact that here in Indiana they don't use X band.

 

Most new detectors (I have the 8500) allow you to disable certain "bands". The three most popular bands for Police Radar are X, K, and KA. Most agencies do not use the old X band guns anymore, but every now then you may run into some old X band units. Mainly, a "X" band hit will be the auto-opening doors at Walgreens, or an alarm system at a closed business. "K" can be either police radar or business false-alarms (and now also collision avoidance systems on luxury cars!).

If you get a "KA" band hit, it's nothing but the Man.... Slow down.

(Don't speed)

 

Yea...you gotta have a rabbit. The fun thing is selecting your rabbit. You want a young male most of the time...if you slowly pass'em, they'll often rev it up and pull ahead a bit, then slow back down to previous speed. Voila, instant anti-cop blanket!

 

Yea...mainly because the older X units are not capable of "instant on". They radiate all the time, and the side lobes are quite prominent. The cops got scared they were gonna start having two-headed babies...

 

This was mainly a concern for the motorcycle officers, who would hide the radar device between their thighs as they sat on the bike waiting to point it at a motorist...

Dumb people do dumb things....

 

hows the battery life on it ?

 

I'd like to chime in that I have a radar just cuz I think the sounds that it makes are cool. I have the escort x50 blue...

 

I live in Toronto Canada, I am sure that radar detectors are illeagel how easy is it for the cops to know you have one installed? Or are there ways to make it undetectable.?

 

which one do you reccomend more than the other?

ive always heard the valentine was top of the line in terms of signaling you to slow your roll.

 

I got the 8500 X50 with the blue display and it has saved my a$$ many times. The new 9500 is ridiculous though, programmable radar trap spots to alert you ahead of the time, plus to false alert spot filter function. I would upgrade to the 9500i just for those 2 features alone

 

I wouldn't say radar detectors are useless, but I am too paranoid to drive fast most of the time, so I just do 5-7 over and not buy a radar detector. I'll let my fiance play with my car, and let him get the tickets. But if I did have a radar detector, even if it was legal in that state, and I got pulled over. As soon as I saw him pull out I would be ripping it off the windshield and throwing it under the seat. If I were a cop and saw a radar detector, I would be like thanks, insta-ticket.

As of today I've only been pulled over once when I was 16 and had 7 people in my Lebaron, the cop said my car was about dragging on the ground so he pulled me over.

My boss had an RSX, he had a laser jammer on it, said it worked great. Yet, I think he had more beeping flashing lights in his car than I've seen ever. He said once he flew past a cop, and the cop just looked at him and threw his hands up, in the manner of "what the heck? Oh well, you got me".