So, what is everybody's radar detector of choice on the forum? I have been reading around, and it looks like one of the best is the Escort 8500. I have an old Whistler that has stopped working on me (as in it doesn't detect any kind of radar or laser anymore), so I am in the market for a new one. Does anybody here have a suggestion for a good one to pick up?

 

You'll find owners fall into three camps:

1. Valentine bigots
2. Escort bigots
3. Everybody else (Bel, Uniden, Whistler, Cobra, etc.)



I'm personally an Escort 8500 bigot. I've tried about everything out there except for the 8500 and Valentine so when I got a new car I decided to get a new RD to go with it!

After agonizing over which of these two to get, I finally decided on the 8500 for its better anti-falsing, auto-mute, less conspicuous (no red arrows) nature and also being $100 less.

It does the job for me but everyone has their own set of likes and dislikes making them come to different conclusions as to what to buy.

Good luck with your decision!

 

Valentine 1.
A little warning about this subject. People often have stronger opinions about their radar detectors than their politics or religion.

 

Well, I've read the reviews on both of them, so I don't want why I should buy this one over this one, just what everybody has. I'm thinking for the future...

 

I have the escort 8500 with the ZR3 Lazer Shifting hard wired in...I love it...I have read all the test and question if it would work....But I does thank god...BTW a radar with just laser detector I find is worthless......When the detector goes of its to late your clocked..

 

Bel 985 works great for me...

 

what do u guys think of hardwired radars? sensors in front and back and just a hidden display hardwired somewhere. The only one I know of off hand is the K40, any others? any opinions?

 

I've had the Valentine 1 for over 2 years and it's great!

 

I've had the Valentine 1 for over 2 years and it's great!

 

I've also had my V1 for at least 7 years and bought another for my wife's Accord.

Almost finished my discrete install of my V1 in TesSX

http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=jchyd7v...b&x=0&y=v772wv

Working on adding a switch in one of the empty plugs, left of the steering wheel that will switch display between main unit above mirror or remote display attached to swing up door over "not an ashtray" (it sure isn't anymore).

 

I got a valentine 1 hard wired in


Why would you want less-conspicuous without the arrows


The arrows have saved my ass!!

 

I ahte having it in the windshield though
what are the alternatives
radar good
box on window, bad

 

I have the BEL975R which is a remote detector. The radar sensor goes behind the grill, a front lasar sensor goes in front of the rearview mirror and the rear lasar sensor goes in the rear glass. I've put the display in the instrument cowl so it's hardly noticable but easy to view while driving. It works great and I get plenty of notice. I've never had any tickets with it and I've had it for the last two years (I used to average a ticket every year). It's a little pricey (not compared to valentine) and it's not difficult to install if you are so inclined. Here's a picture of it. That's the tire pressure monitor on the left of the wheel.

http://home.satx.rr.com/thebeartrap/My%20TSX%203.JPG

 

I have tried them all (thanks to friends who let me borrow theirs) and unparalleled is the Valentine 1. It's very expensive for a "just a radar/laser detector", but it's the best unit on the market. As people have said, "V1 Users" are outspoken and biased. I agree. It's worth the money - question is do you want to spend $400 on a radar/laser detector? The protection is proven and I think the protection is worth $400 - not to mention the ingenious user interface.

 

$ is fine
protections is great
location is CRAP

 

Yeah I'm with moreace...the V1 seems to be the one, but having the thing sitting somewhere in the window just blows. I like how Bear Trap has his setup...that is something that would be nice to have with a sensor in the front of the car and one in the rear and then just a little instrument panel that mounts near the gauges....I'm still trying to decide what I want to get...

 

Because those nice red blinkers are a dead give-away to cops, many of whom hate RDs and the drivers that use them thereby giving you further scrutiny that you don't need.

 

if you are close enough to a cop that he can see those arrows you shouldn't be speeding anyway

 

Who said anything about speeding? I was trying to make a point about how non-conspicuous those arrow indicators are.

Even if you are going at or below the speed limit and a cop comes up behind you either on the interstate or main street, if he's using radar, your arrows are doing their thing letting Mr. Constable know that you have a RD which gets back to the comment I made earlier about "giving you further scrutiny that you don't need."

That said, it was one more reason why I didn't opt for the Valentine and chose the 8500 instead.

 

Check out the K40 as well

 

True---but my opinion is that the arrows help more then they hurt

 

I don't get it, who cares where it is? U not gonna slow down if it is behind you? The radar goes off, u hit the brakes

 

When I bought My GS300 Lexus in 1998, I bought a Valentine 1. I have been through a 2000 GS400 and a CRV Honda since then, and No Tickets. It paid for itself in three months in our town against motorcycle cops with radar guns. Mine is mounted high to the right of the rearview mirror.
When your Escorts etc. are outclassed by new radars, you will have to chuck them. The Valentine just goes back to the factory for an upgrade.

 

How often does that happen? Is that a lifetime deal? I love the radar, just wish it were the hidden type.

 

it isn't free---but they will replace parts, upgrade firmware, etc for a charge and essintialy make it exactly the same as the new model

comparing it to a car they trade out engine, computer, suspension and lube it up real nice before they send it back

 

prob charge close to what a new one is
:P

 

I have the V1 and the arrows people do not like are the BEST feature, bar none!

Really, who is getting close enough to distinguish the arrows?

 

Yep V-1 is the ticket(well not really) I love mine and would not do without the arrows ever again!! They really help you out more than you can imagine!! If and when you need to upgrade, the cost is subject to how much of an upgrade it needs! Just a firmware upgrade is pretty cheap

 

I'm really tempted to buy a valentine 1. One question for everyone who has one: did you guys hardwire the power for yours? or do you just let the power cord hang there. Thats what bugs me about my current radar detector, I have that stupid cord hanging down over the center stack.

I figured if I blow 400bux on a valentine 1 I would spend the time and hardwire the power, just wondered if anyone here had done it and if there were any issues you ran into

 

I hardwired my V1. Got it just to the right of the mirror. It works great in that postition. The only disadvantage is that the passenger's side visor can't flip all the way to the window, it'll only go to the straight-down position.

Another good thing is that everything that was needed to hardwire the V1 was included with it (no, not a screwdriver or wire tool). No extra wires to buy.

I took a bunch of detailed pix of my install...I'll post em if anyone is interested.

 

you guys should check out www.radartest.com They do reviews of almost every detector that comes out on the market and you can find out what the real-world strengths and weaknesses are of various units. Much better than the subjective opinions that you'll get from people who have already spent money on some detector or another

 

If you could post some pics, I would be forever grateful. I wan't to hardwire a V-1 but I am a little nervouse about doing it myself.

Thanks

Joe D

 

sorry it took so long...here's the write-up.

This is my first "install photo-shoot." I realized I should have taken a picture of all the components before I started putting thing together...next time.

The good thing is that everything needed to do the hard-wire install for the V1 came in the box.

Location, Location, Location



I mounted the V1 just right of the mirror. The instructions recommend mounting it in the center of the window...but that seemed just too high-profile. Moving it just right of the mirror still gives it good visibility while not drawing too much attention. The only real negative is the passenger can't flip their visor all the way down without disturbing the V1...small sacrafice!

Running the wires



I removed all the plastic molding underneath the dash to make things a little more accessible. I took a little persuasion to get the two under-dash pieces off, but it gives you a better look at what's going on down there... and a look at some nice engineering.

I plugged one end of the wire into the detector and started "stuffing" the wire into position. I used a flat-head screwdriver with a soft cotton cloth folded over the head. First across the headliner then down the A-pillar. It fit snuggly between the A-pillar and the dash. Then I pulled the door seal off which revealed a nice spot to run the wire down to the plastic molding. I just pulled the molding back a little and the wire fits right in.

Wiring





I hung the V1 "hub" (don't know exactly what it's called, but hub will do) over the side plastic piece. There's a screw just inside the plastic piece that I was able to unscrew enough to fit the grounding wire under. I pulled out the 30amp wiper fuse and folded the red wire over one of the fuse blades and reinserted the fuse. That's it for car connections.

I just plugged the wire from the detector into the 'hub' and zip-tied the whole piece. There was a nice open spot right next to the ODB2 connector to stuff the 'package.' If I ever upgrade to the remote display (which can plug in to the hub) the hub is already conveniently located in the dash so wiring that will be a piece-o-cake.

-phingerz

 

Phingerz,

I need help with the wiring.

I folded the wire over the fuse blade like you said in your post, but i get nothing. What am I doing wrong????

please help me

 

Where did you attach the ground?

Which fuse position did you use?

If it will help, I can post pix of my install (just did it today).

-mj

 

MJ-bos,

If you could post your pictures, it would be really helpful.

Thanks

 

HI, I'm new, just got automatic silver with nav yesterday - tons of fun already. On the subject of inconspicuous mounting of the V1, I have seen (but cannot recall the website) a small company that makes replacement rear view mirrors with the V1 display built into the lower right corner of the mirror - with the detector turned off it looks like a stock mirror so it would probably be hard for a cop to see if you got pulled over. Of course, then you gotta ditch your factory mirror and do some wiring which may not be too much fun up there. Looking at some prior posts, it appears that the V1 can be installed so that you only see the remote display in the "not an ashtray" area - is this a difficult install? I can install most after market radio stuff pretty easy, just nervous about poking holes in an expensive car. Thanks in advance---Brian

 

Thanks, useful site. They seem to like the Escort 8500, SR7, and SRX and the later BEL Vector models in the 2003 Buyer's Guide. Too bad the SR models are so freakin' expensive; they look really inconspicuous.

I think my ideal setup would be if I could get some small detection units mounted somewhere where the wires won't be obtrusive. Then the display can be ducked into Not an Ashtray or somewhere equally inconspicuous, and I can just open it up to check it out when I hear it beep. Inconspicuousness is high on my priority list. Maybe a wireless model like the Escort Solo S2 is what I'm looking for.

 

Once you use the arrows---you will never go back to a regular radar detector! I simply dont leave home without mine.

Maybe one day he will get the size down a little, it is one of the thicker RD's around! Must have some good stuff in there. Heck I may take mine apart to see whats up

I wish Mike at V-1 would update his website once in a while---its been the same for 2-3 years now I think?

 

MJ-bos or Phingerz I still need help please.