Radar Detector Guru's

[ZSHO]

If your looking for a basic Radar detector with minimal false alerts and great performance would purchase a Passport 8500-X50,have mine for over two years now and has performed Excellent for the price.  Z

[Scott4957]

I agree ^^^

That is what I started looking at....then my need for geekyness overwhelmed me and I spent 3X what I would have on a used X50. Oh well, DSP rules and as long as we get firmware updates the new max line will be a top performer for many years to come. Now i need to start saving for a laser jammer. Unfortunately in IL they are not legal, wonder what the penalty is if you get caught?

[r1crusher]

Another very happy X50 user here.  Had it for quite a few years now and my father liked it so much I bought him one as well since he travels a lot from Northern Ohio to WV.  Only had 2 tickets in my time owning it, one from laser which is nearly impossible to beat with any detector when not in a s*** ton of traffic and the other was purely my fault for going faster than I was able to react and slow down to be effective.

My general rule is no more than 10-12 over the posted.  This gives you plenty of time to react and a buffer as no cop is going to pull you over to write you a ticket for <9 over by the time you brake.  If so depending on the speed limit the ticket would likely not carry any points and to me that's the important part.

[FoMoCoSHO]

I think the 8500 is a solid detector.

That being said, the threat picture is much different with the V-1.

Multiple bogey detection with directional arrows are invaluable figuring out what and where the threat is.

Lots of false alarms but if you're like me and drive the same area over and over, patterns appear.

For example, a mall close to me always shows 7 separate signals, they are always there...when I'm driving through and see 8, I know there is a real threat.

What is exciting about the max 360 is it has the advantages of the V1 and the ability to filter out all the false signals . Coupled with their GPS database and LIVE, it should be a very powerful tool.

Honestly, it's probably worth $650, but I'm a cheap bastard!

[CroR1]

I had an 8500 11 years ago, and ended up getting a ticket. And then I realized that a 60$ detector works about the same as 600$ detector. If you're not thinking ahead, you'll get caught with either one of the two.

[BiGMaC]

I had an 8500 11 years ago, and ended up getting a ticket. And then I realized that a 60$ detector works about the same as 600$ detector. If you're not thinking ahead, you'll get caught with either one of the two.

As the radar/laser has already reflected and is registered in the LEOs car/radar gun... It is only in a group where you have a chance... If your running relatively isolated chances are good your busted if the radar/laser was pointed (or aimed). at you.... so frankly I just stopped using one... everyone in AZ drives too fast anyway... you'd think the surface streets had speed limits of 55-65 mph depending on traffic.

[Scott4957]

I had an 8500 11 years ago, and ended up getting a ticket. And then I realized that a 60$ detector works about the same as 600$ detector. If you're not thinking ahead, you'll get caught with either one of the two.

As the radar/laser has already reflected and is registered in the LEOs car/radar gun... It is only in a group where you have a chance... If your running relatively isolated chances are good your busted if the radar/laser was pointed (or aimed). at you.... so frankly I just stopped using one... everyone in AZ drives too fast anyway... you'd think the surface streets had speed limits of 55-65 mph depending on traffic.

There are significant differences between a $60 and a $600 detector, though I will agree for many it is not enough to spend the extra money and is the reason why more $60 units are purchased. A good example is R1crusher getting a ticket going too fast with his x50 and not being able to slow down fast enough, thats a $300 detector, but if he had a redline, which cost even more, he may have been alerted as much as 1000 feet sooner and may have had the time to slow down. If you have a detector that falses contently then you might ignore or not react quickly to a legit threat and get a ticket, so having GPS lockout on the higher end units could be a benefit for some.

As for only having a chance if you are in a group, that is 99% true with laser, if its on you, you're done. This is definitely not the case with radar. Even POP, instant on etc. will be detected by a good detector and long before you get close enough for the officer to focus on your car. A good detector will pickup a microwaves up to 8x further away "and out of line of sight at shorter distances" then the gun can register your speed. The idea being the cop is using it on other cars that are well in front of you and you get an alert allowing you to slow down. Or the officer starts using it too soon "or has it on constantly" and you get an alert and slow down before he can get a read out.

A 5 mile stretch, you are the only car on the road, the officer is patient and turns the radar gun on when you are close enough for him to get a quick reading and without you seeing him, then yes you just got a ticket, this is rarely the case as they setup in areas that they can get a bunch of speeders. You also forget the instances where a cop is driving in the opposite direction with his radar on, you will get an alert and be able to slow down before he gets a read on your speed.

The combination of Waze with a good detector is one hell of a combo. But there is nothing that is 100%. When I was young and dumb I was running 100+ after midnight down I55, there was virtually no traffic. I was coming up on a car ahead of me quite fast and was starting to slow down, it was a cop and he turned on his radar when I got close, he was not interested in giving me a break Can't get away all the time!

[r1crusher]

I think you pretty much nailed it Scott. There most certainly is a big difference between cheap and moderately priced detectors. I can pick up signals several miles away with my"cheap" X50 easy.  And the usage of waze with a good detector is a awesome combo for sure. I have literally shaved almost an hour off of what would be a 12+ hour road trip. Waze is also great in those stupid states like VA where detectors are illegal.

You have to understand the limitations of detectors in general and the detector you have, then drive accordingly IMO.

[Scott4957]

I think you pretty much nailed it Scott. There most certainly is a big difference between cheap and moderately priced detectors. I can pick up signals several miles away with my"cheap" X50 easy.  And the usage of waze with a good detector is a awesome combo for sure. I have literally shaved almost an hour off of what would be a 12+ hour road trip. Waze is also great in those stupid states like VA where detectors are illegal.

You have to understand the limitations of detectors in general and the detector you have, then drive accordingly IMO.

Yeah Waze has saved me an hour just on my 70 mile round trip commute several times by routing me around nasty accidents I would have never known about until I was stuck in the middle. And the x50 is hardly a cheap detector! It was what I wanted before my geekyness got in the way and I saw the new tech in the Max series. What you need in VA is the Escort Redline, undetectable by radar detector detectors. I found out I am apparently royalty for Illinois and Missouri Waze users, I have a crown which supposedly means I am in the top 1% of users. It would be nice if they sent me some money or something For any users that want to know how to hack on Waze and adjust alert distances let me know. I have mine setup to alert me to cops 1.2 miles out rather than less than a half mile it is set at.

[ZSHO]

I would just remove your front plate and focus on staying in the middle lane and avoid driving on T&T,Tuesdays and Thursdays,ticket quotas.  Z

[r1crusher]

Yeah Waze has saved me an hour just on my 70 mile round trip commute several times by routing me around nasty accidents I would have never known about until I was stuck in the middle. And the x50 is hardly a cheap detector! It was what I wanted before my geekyness got in the way and I saw the new tech in the Max series. What you need in VA is the Escort Redline, undetectable by radar detector detectors. I found out I am apparently royalty for Illinois and Missouri Waze users, I have a crown which supposedly means I am in the top 1% of users. It would be nice if they sent me some money or something For any users that want to know how to hack on Waze and adjust alert distances let me know. I have mine setup to alert me to cops 1.2 miles out rather than less than a half mile it is set at.

I'm game to know the Waze cop hack!   And I was goofin' when I called my X50 cheap, but when compared to the prices of the Redline at the time and now even the Max it is cheap.

My wife's nephew has a crown for his use of Waze in KY (where he lives) and OH (where he works).  He drive over over an hour each way so he racks up some time using it.

[Scott4957]

RDforum.org is great, here is the Waze hack. You have to download the apk for an older version as you can only do this to the new versions of Waze on a rooted android phone. Unfortunately no one has rooted my phone yet. I should change my handle to cbr1000rrcrusher, I wrecked the $hit out of mine a couple years ago, crushed it and myself pretty good!

http://www.rdforum.org/showthread.php?t=36980

[Scott4957]

Has anyone used this mount? Curious how it fits with the camera and other electronics in the way.

http://www.amazon.com/PerformancePackage-Mirror-Mount-Detector-Bracket/dp/B0063N7OZ2/ref=lp_8334804011_1_1?srs=8334804011&ie=UTF8&qid=1453570528&sr=8-1

I would love the Blend mount but $80 is a bit steep.

[ZSHO]

Nope,there is plainly no room to mount that because of the built in cam on the rear view mirror,pic's below and hope this help's any.  Z

[Scott4957]

On mine there is some of the mirror post exposed. With the articulating arm I thought it may be able to be adjusted to work and hang just below the mirror and the plastic housing as intended. I will have to go out in the cold and take a closer look and see if I can get some dimensions on that mount.

Has anyone used any type of mirror mount?

Thanks,
Scott