This is NOT a re-post! LOL! I have searched, and searched, and have not read any final "conclusions" as to what is the best place to mount your radar detector. I refuse to have it in the middle of my windshield as Florida's finest don't like seeing them, or they'll just give you a ticket for the hell of it! I had mine hard-wired in at the far left (drivers side) upper corner of the windshield. I had a very light window "sun strip" installed with my window tint, and it is currently behind this.
First, is this a good location for the detector?
Second, does the window tinting REALLY affect the detectors? If so, please let me know the most "stealth" place to install and still get the best overall coverage. P.S. I have an Escort 8500 X50 blue. Thanks guys, and I would love to see what you all have gathered from your experiences.

 

Height is the single most important consideration. Higher is better.

 

The higher up the better is the word for radar detectors, as vucelick just entered while I was typing this. Tinting will only affect the laser part, since laser=light, but will not affect any of the radar bands.

If you have it in the middle of the windshield, the blackened area, designed to augment the sun visors, would not hamper the radar detection but should hide the detector from outside view. Have you checked this for how much you can see through that area from the outside?

I have had a Bel remote in previous cars for many years, and always got good reception even though it was mounted behind the grill, but not as good as the reception would have been if it was high in the windshield.

 

As it sits right now in the upper left corner of the windshield on the drivers side..it is 100% out of sight..EVEN WHEN YOU LOOK FOR IT! This is an awesome position, but it is behind my "sun strip" of window tint I had installed. So this will only affect the laser detection??

 

Depends on the darkness of your tint, but it will definitely only affect laser. But if you get shot by laser, you've had it anyway because there's no time to slow down, so it really doesn't make a lot of difference, IMHO.

 

Pics?

 

My V1 (hardwired) is mounted on the upper lefthand corner of the windshield. Even if you lean into the car slightly from the outside you cannot see it. Remote display is mounted in the lowest cubbie, its stuck to the bottom side of the pivoting door, it looks gr8 when you open it and it swings into position.

My question is..... will the stock windshield tint affect any of the detection modes..it's just a slight color layer added to the glass. I don't think the stock tint should effect even laser.

Also, how will the black layer behind the rearview mirror effect all bands???

 

1. I mount my V1 (version 1.8 - the latest revision) in the center of the windshield. I've been too lazy to hardwire it.

2. I've picked up laser off of the car in front of me and had a couple seconds to slow down. Possibly saved me a ticket but most likely didn't make a difference.

3. The black bands behind the rear-view mirror don't affect radar, but probably do affect laser.

 

If your laser goes off you got a ticket (if your speeding). Officers are trained to shoot at the front license plate. If your dector signals laser its too late.

 

http://www.speedzones.com/

 

Not true always!!

As stated above I have caught laser with my V-1 when behind a few cars and have plenty of time to slow down before he tags me...

Now if you are the only one and it goes off then.....well your done

 

I share the same experience many times a month with my Escort 8500 X50. Mount it high!

 

Ditto. Driving through Ohio one year on my way to Indy, I got hit a half dozen times (man that laser sound scares the heck out of me!). I was doing about 80-85 on some of them, slightly slower on others. Traffic was fairly light, and I was in the 2nd lane from the right. They were definitely pulling people over, but they didn't get me.

 

As others on here have posted, the rule of thumb for mounting a radar detector for the best reception is the higher the better. Obviously you don't want to mount the detector behind any metal (such as the metal "dot matrix" at the center of the windshield behind the rear view mirror). The factory tint at the top of the windshield will not affect radar reception, but will affect lidar reception (although exactly how much is hard to say).

Unfortunately, the optimal place for a lidar detector for best reception is the lower the better. The most commonly aimed at areas on the front of the vehicle (in order) are: front license plate (if available), headlights (daylight), grille, fog lights, windshield. Since most of the targets are below the beltline, having the detector as low as possible greatly increases the chance of picking up the lidar signal. The beam is so narrow that within 1000 feet if an officer aims at your front plate, the beam width won't reach the top of the windshield and it is unlikely a detector placed there would even go off. It would go off, however, if it was placed on the dashboard. I can attest to this firsthand with both an Escort and a V1. However, the other problem with placing it low on the dashboard is the rearward facing antennas/optics can have a tough time "seeing" out the back with bodies/head rests, etc in the way.

The happy medium, obviously, is half-way up the windshield which, unfortunately, is kind of an eyesore. You need to weigh the pros and cons and base it on what threats are in your area. If you hardly ever encounter lidar then a high mount would probably make the most sense. On the other hand, if lidar is big around your area, center of the windshield about 3-4 inches up from the dash would probably be the best.

 

Here's a few pics of my installation, which has worked great for me:
http://www.acura-tl.com/forums/showp...1&postcount=72

I usually get at least a 0.5 mile warning, sometimes up to 1.5 miles ahead of the trap.