hey guys, i've been seeing alot of posts on how the Valentine One is the "best" radar detector out there...

after alot of research, i've came to the conclusion that when it's time for me to purchase my new radar detector, i'll be going for the Escort 8500. not only is it cheaper by $100, but it has been claimed better in reference to many auto website/magazine reviews. especially radartest.com, which took the top 4 high-performance radar detectors out there and gave each of them a score. check out the test @ http://www.radartest.com/DS4HEM.html

Escort 8500 website: http://www.escortstore.com/8500.htm

Valentine One website: http://www.valentine1.com/home.asp

- gerbs

 

Is that escort infinitely upgradable by the manufacturer like the V-1, or do you just throw it away when it becomes obsolete?

The V-1 is the thinking motorist's detector, and it excels in real world use above and beyond anything I have ever experienced. I trust mine completely to do its job for me. When the Porsches and other exotic cars pull into the staging area of the local road track, they all have a V-1 in the window and I have never seen any of them using a competitor's product. Just my personal experience, your's may differ.

However every year or so another manufacturer is able to claim that theirs is just a little more sensitive or something like that.

Choose wisely and buy the best detector for your budget.

_________________
~Yucca Patrol~


"Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement."

 

Don't worry gerbs, you aren't the first person to find those sites confusing in regards to different sites declaring different detectors as "the best". If you search hard enough you can find a "radar test" site for any detector that it claims to be the best. Even though the site claim to be "independant", truth of the matter is 9 times out of 10 they are sponsered by a detector company. A better way to find out which unit is the best is to have a post that says "what radar detector has kept you out of jail and debt?" I have yet to find a more dedicated group of enthusiast when it comes to customer satisfaction, than the valentine one crowd. I've had my valentine in: 96 lexus sc400, 97 C5 Vette, 99 C5 Vette, 65 mustang (300+hp)99.5 audi a4, 2000 bmw 328, 2001 boxster s, 2001 toyota 4 runner, 2002 330ci, and soon to be my '03 MCS. All of these cars have been hardwired for a valentine one. In my family we have 4 valentines, and in the last 6 years not a single person in my family has been pulled over for speeding. I'm not about to say, you wont ever get a ticket with a valentine, but if you are aware of your surroundings and pay attention to the valentine, you will save yourself alot of money. Skimping out on a radar detector would be like buying a generic brand of condoms to save a few bucks, but hey we all know, kids are expensive. Do yourself a favor and buy a valentine, and hey, if you aren't pleased we can talk about selling it to me, I can always use another v1 for weekend toys. Sorry about sounding hostile, but I think valentine gets a bad wrap from these "independant tests", when in all honesty if you had to compete with the v1, you'd also probably do the same thing. As for magazine articles, look closesly at the major auto mags, and look inside of the cars, often you can see a trusty v1 mounted on the window when they are testing cars outside of the track and on the streets. I promise you wont be disapointed.

Blake

 

argh, this isnt an easy decision... i dont want to "just buy something" because there is a group of people that are 100% confident and satisfied with it, but then again that group of people seems to be everyone, like i mentioned before...

YP: my budget is anything that's not ridiculously expensive, and the valentine-1 fits into that category, so $ isnt really an issue here

i guess i'll stick to the valentine-1 then, i understand where you guys are coming from when it's the "better thing to do" because you cant really trust those reviews, then again.... eh whatever i'll just get a freakin v-1

*peer pressure at work*

thanks for the responses guys
- gerbs

 

ah i forgot to respond to your questions YP, truthfully im not sure wether the Escort is upgradable like that.... hell i didnt even know the V1 was (so much for researching, heh.. )

 

-one last thing, the people at valentine are great, and the fact that whenever new tech. becomes available they can and will upgrade you. And as for any other mfg of radars, they dont, look on ebay and type in a mfg's name and see how many generations and styles they have gone through. And as for doing something because of a group of people, just remember there is a reason why that group of people love the v1, it works. I have yet to see a person metion great experiences with any other detector and then is followed by a chorus of fanatics who share the same ideas. If money isn't a problem. Buy 2, and give the other one to someone you care about, trust me, they will be forever in debt to you (godfather style). So hurry up and order yours tonight so you can have it for the weekend, and then go out and have some fun!

 

I drive my MCS like a maniac. Check out the the post that I have written, "How fast have you gone in your MCS. Posting

Speedometer @ 130

I too have had my V-1 for a while. BMW M6, Infiniti Q45T (97 & 99) VW GTI VR6.

I drive from Atlanta to Tampa about once a month.

497 miles in 5 hours 47 minutes is my record with the V-1 in "A" mode.

V-1 picked up 6 traps last time
Cops 0 tickets.

No tickets no problems.

Get a V-1, take it from a guy that hauls a$$

 

>>Speedometer @ 130

yea, i saw that.... kickass

>>Get a V-1, take it from a guy that hauls a$$

 

Any high end detector is going to work and work well. The differences are really subtle, but there has got to be some sort of real-world difference that has all of the exotic car guys buying nothing else for their windshields.

I routinely hit speeds in excess of 120mph with my V1 and compact binoculars on deserted stretches of highways in Colorado and Wyoming. The poor Wyoming state patrol officers with their early K band guns are picked up literally minutes before they become visible on the wide open spaces.

There is a particular spot on I-80 between Cheyenne and Laramie that they often use as a speed trap. I have been driving through that area when the V1 indicated that there were 2 state patrol cars with their guns on. Knowing exactly where they were, I was able to continue speeding right until I crested the gentle rolling hill that I knew they were hiding behind. Sure enough, they were parked side by side chatting about the Broncos game. . . .

I have other stories, but that is a good enough one.

If you are going to drive fast, then you need to be extra polite on the highways and not endanger the innocent poor bastards in their minivans, as well as protect yourself with some sort of detector that you can afford and count on.

Just don't go buy a $69 one from Best Buy and get the idea that it is going to do anything but make irritating noises and emit flashing lights.

_________________
~Yucca Patrol~


"Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement."

 

>>If you are going to drive fast, then you need to be extra polite on the highways and not endanger the innocent poor bastards in their minivans, as well as protect yourself with some sort of detector that you can afford and count on.

rofl..

 

>>>>Speedometer @ 130
>>
>>yea, i saw that.... kickass
>>
>>>>Get a V-1, take it from a guy that hauls a$$
>>
>>


Glad you liked that pic. I'll have to dig up one from my M6. 173mph with a V-1 !!!

 

The Escort 8500 IS UPGRADEABLE!

I have the 8500 and have NO complaints about it.

I read numerous reviews of the V1 and 8500 before buying one. There is only about 3 or so that rate the V1 best, but about 15 rating the 8500 tops.

To further test, I took 8500 and V1 up on their 30 money back deal if you don't like it and tested them both. I in REAL world driving tests that the 8500 provided fewer false positives than the V1. I also have a speadtrap near my house and tested both detectors to see which one would pick it up first.... again, the 8500 won this test hand down... it was Ka band trap.

The arrows the V1 had were neat. I thought they were cool, but later found them to be annoying and the side arrows were unneeded as they are not real world appropriate.

I notice time after time the 8500 bashers are V1 owners who have never used the new 8500. Which pretty much makes their point moot as they have no experience with the 8500.

With the 8500 costing $100 less and providing better results, I returned the V1 and have kept the 8500.

 

I love your signature with the cat
prrrrr MOW !!!!

I notice everyone compares themselves to the V-1...... I wonder why !!

To each his own on the radar scene, 4 years w/ V-1 no tickets.
I think better technology may be out there, but I don't want to risk it considering the performance of the V-1 that I have experienced all along.

One of my cars was stolen this year and I re-bought a V-1 for that car.

prrrr mow >>>>> Kesh420

 

blah... that's mainly why at first i was leaning towards the Escort 8500.. because of it's better ranged Ka Band readings...

what to do.. what to do.. that is the question

 

The reason why v1 owners don't try the 8500 is because they have no need to . It's a little hard to improve a perfect track record. I'm not saying the 8500 is a bad detector, it's not, it is a great detector, but when I'm doing 100+ I go with what I know. And I have had an escort back in the day before I new about the v1, and yes it worked if you call beeping when your driving within a certain range of radar frequencies (store security systems, automatic opening doors at business, and oh yeah, cops use it too) I was just way to paranoid when ever other 20ft I had it beeping. But it all depends on where you live. I used to live in dallas, and there is so many false alarms there, I challange any radar detector to be flawless (yes the v1 isn't perfect, I said it) but now that I live in santa barbara, in the 2 yrs I have lived here I have seen my radar detector go off probably no more than 10 times, and those were on the outskirts of town in newly built communities with giant chain stores (best buy, costco, any new construction) So if you live in a small town and money is an issue, save a $100 and get a escort, you'll love it. But if you live in a big city and want to know where and what the hell is going on around you, get the v1, the boggie detector is great. So I am not an escort basher, I just am really passionate about my valentine's track record.

 

alright, i'm going to stick with the V1

just thought i'd tell you guys my final decision... i'll be ordering one sometime soon.. :smile:

 

Happy Motoring no matter what you do or don't buy !!!

You're gonna love your Cooper !!!

:smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: Kesh420

PS: It's all good

 

and I'll add to what kesh said:

!!!!DRIVE IT LIKE YOU STOLE IT!!!!

 

>High Anxiety, While true the side display cannot catch you, wouldn't you want to know where the "threat" is coming from? If my side marker lights up, I watch the threat to see if it moves behind or ahead of me where it does make a difference. That is the difference between Escort and V1. Plus, it has saved my bacon innumeral times on my many excursions up to Mammoth ski area along that noted speed trap that CA395 is. My record is 3 hours from Palmdale to Mammoth with a gas stop (~250 miles)

 

>>>High Anxiety, While true the side display cannot catch you, wouldn't you want to know where the "threat" is coming from? If my side marker lights up, I watch the threat to see if it moves behind or ahead of me where it does make a difference. That is the difference between Escort and V1. Plus, it has saved my bacon innumeral times on my many excursions up to Mammoth ski area along that noted speed trap that CA395 is. My record is 3 hours from Palmdale to Mammoth with a gas stop (~250 miles)

I figure this... if the detector goes off it is a good reason for me to slow down. 99% of the time I figure out exactly where the radar is coming from. 1% of the time isn't enough for me to shell out $100 more.

Like I said before, I tested the 2 detectors head to head. When it came to K and Ka, the 8500 went off first. The 8500 also had much fewer false positives in the city. When it came to X, the 8500 goes off too much and is annoying for sure. When it comes to laser... again the 8500 is King.

I stayed with the 8500 for the simple fact it outperformed the V1 for about 2 weeks straight in both city and highway driving in the Salt Lake City area... here most the city cops use Ka and the highway patrol uses Ka and also laser. Time after time I was having the 8500 going off and catching cops first, that is the only reason I stuck with it.

Trust me, if I find something better next time... I'll go with the better product. I have NO loyalties when it comes to products... performance and price is what I'm loyal to.

 

If the officer is running the RADAR correctly, the detector won't make any difference...

Cheers.

Your friendly motorcycle cop and police radar instructor

 

>>If the officer is running the RADAR correctly, the detector won't make any difference...
>>
>>Cheers.
>>
>>Your friendly motorcycle cop and police radar instructor
>> :smile:

 

>>Your friendly motorcycle cop and police radar instructor



what do you mean by a "wrong" way to use the radars? as in "incorrect" or "not permitted"? ops:

 

I believe he means...pulsing not always on....

 

>>I believe he means...pulsing not always on....