Picked up an Escort Solo S2 Cordless radar detector yesterday...and drove back 100 miles to the coast. Love it! No cords, of course...and no tickets either,

It seems plenty sensitive and actually kicked into gear 3 times on the way home. State Police love to setup just over the hill or around the next curve here on along ocean Highway 101.

The cordless is hard to beat convenience wise. A trade off...yes, but seems to be worth the trade!

 

It only takes about 10mins to completly hide the cord of a radar detector. 25 if your want to hardwire it in.

 

I've had my Escort Solo S2 Cordless radar detector for about a year. I like it because it's easy to move between my cars and it travels well on trips where I drive rental cars.

 

Any convenience or cost savings will rapidly disappear the first time you get a ticket... ever since I first used a V1, I won't buy anything else. There's good reason for that.

 

When it went off, was the bogey in front of you, or behind?

 

 

The way I see it it, the V1 is hardwired in the MINI, if I want to conceal it in the golve box(not all neighborhoods are good for leaving $500 on your dash), 2 clips and it and the remonte have vanished if I want to put in ina nother car, visor clip and the additional cords provied make that a process that takes all of seconds.

But my V1 lives in the glove box most of the week, tis the joy of lasers and pacing.

 

If you have it, why not use it?

 

Laser and pacing are primary means of enforcement around here; I generally don't drive in a manner that makes me the like one to be stopped, combined with a little common sense, know where people regulary sit with radar and laser and when they sit there goes a lot further than the V1 can. The V1 like any radar detector is a tool, sometimes I want that tool handy (like unfamiliar territory) and then I want the best availible; but sometimes that tool is not needed and just gets in the way. Oh and BTW when the V1 has helped dramatically, it was the counter that was the giveaway, the arrows just helped me identify sources (like when it wasn't a cop but a cheap radar detector pumpiung out the Ka band)

 

I've had a Passport X50 hardwired to my Sti for almost 3 years now and I've only gotten 1 ticket in this high profile car (and for that ticket no radar detector in the world would've saved me since the cop didn't have his radar on until I was just a few car lengths away from him). Anyway, the point is, any time your radar detector goes off you should immediately slow down anyway, regardless where the radar is. Would you keep driving at your speed or even faster if the radar is behind you? In front of you? or from the side of the road? No! No! No! Logically you would slow down immediately until the radar source is starting to get away from you. I think this "V1 is the best detector" thinking is way over rated......

 

I agree slowsti. V1 uses those arrows as a major selling point but I don't get it. Like you said, who cares where the cop is, you slow down (assuming you're going to fast) regardless.

I've been using the Passport cordless for 2 years. I can't guarantee it has saved me tickets, but I'll bet it has. In any case I slow down whenever it goes off and that occasional reminder is a good thing.

 

It's called V1 Moments. V1 like the Escort and even the Cobras and various other detectors can pay for them selves in prevention of accidental slip ups pretty quickly. What takes longer, but is well worth it is having the V1 pay for its added features. The arrows are nice, they provide more info, help me locate the source, let me now that yeah I just passed a STEP trailer, but he stronger signal is the motor cop 200 yards a head of me.

The more important feature is the counter. Drive the same route long enough and you quickly learn where it goes off and eventally ignore those blips. One day a radar is set there (be it squad car, speed camera,etc.) Now with a standard detector you'd get that the signal is there but not nessicarly the indication that this is another additional (and actual) radar signal. The bogey counter makes this additional presance clearly known. That feature has come in handy enough to make the differance between the V1 and others worth while.

Also as an FYI on a recent road trip I was being closely followed by a Jetta on a recent road trip, approaching a bend I got a surge in the K band, I set my cruise at 65 (local limit for that strech of high way) This Jetta passed me, I noted a silver Radar detector on the windscreen above the mirror (similar to where I keep my V1) the Jetta contiued on past me downa straight mile strech of road V1 pegged at full strength for most of it, just before the squad car sitting in the median I see the Jetta's brakes light up wathc it pass the squad car and get pulled over. Yes many other factors could have played into that but having a strong warning before hand certainly is comforting.

 

If you don't get it... explaining it won't help

Knowing when the threat has passed and how many are there are the features I can't live without on a detector.

 

Ditto. If the threat is beside you, and in a group of multiple threats - usually no reason to slow down.
If the threat is behind you, sometimes it's a good reason to SPEED UP. Arrows and counter (and a bit of experience) give you this kind of ability. No other detector does...

 

we have V1's in all of my family's cars, harwired of course, so no wires visible. Also you have to remember how radar detectors came into existance. Back in the 80's Mike Valentine invented the radar detector and he met someone who became his partner. Mike's job was to make the radar detector better, and his partner sold it. Eventually though his partner baught him out and mike signed a non compete that lasted for several years. Now that valentine is back they are still the best on the market, and his ex partner went on to create pasport. To this day they are still #2. I feel like i'm driving naked if theres not a V1 in my car.

 

Also the valentines you can always send in and have them upgraded. A very nice plus if you as me

 

I just used my newly-purchased V1 for a 3200-mile trip from Virginia to California. Knowing the type/number/direction of radar threats was a *huge* boost in situational awareness.

The unit seems very solid and well-constructed, and I like that it came with a variety of mounts and cables. I used the visor clip and the long, straight power cord, running the cord between the windshield and headliner, down behind the a-pillar, and then under the dash to the cigarette lighter. Eventually I'll hardwire it, but I was pressed for time before the trip.

 

I just put 3111 miles on my new '07 in a 17 day period. I picked up my MCS in Long Beach, CA and drove to Tucson, AZ, From Tucson I drove up to Seattle and put the car in storage . For the whole trip I had my trusty V1. I found that it nested nicely (with a touch of velcro) right above the top left of the rear-view mirror. I simply bought some black phone line (15') and tucked it into the side of the headliner. I was able to tuck it in all the way to the accessory power socket in the aft left of the car. 15 minutes of work and my V1 has a hidden color matched installation. The location above the mirror looks fantastic.

 

For those who don't get it, spend a day of spirited driving on open highways with a borrowed V1 or in a friend's car with one, or let the friend drive with it and you in your car with your other brand detector--trust me, you'll get it alright! ;-)

I speak from 20 years of spirited driving with V1s and other detectors...the "naked without it" comment is spot on!