ok so i just bought a new radar detector...its a Escort x50 8500...any one use this, or any one had it save them?

 

I have a Valentine One. I sware by it. it's easily saved me $1,500 in the 2 years or so i've owned it. In CA with $350-$500 tickets it's not worth saving 100-200 bucks on the detecter. You either go all out, or not at all . No experiance with that detector. So many different detectors out there, i'm sure someone will chime in.

 

V1 does rule, but now CHP is using "LYDAR" a lot more. In the SF Bay Area, they set up dragnets with several cops over the course of a mile or so. Unfortunately, nothing works against LYDAR (AKA Laser) as they detect your speed as soon as you detect it.

At least it still helps in those situations where they are using KA stuff. Still, V1 is the best bang for the buck, hands down....

 

LIDAR .

Out here at least most of the cops still use KA band. Keep in mind LIDAR can't be used while moving, they have to be completely stationary, and it has to be reflected off something like a license plate to work properly.

LIDAR *Can* be detected sucessfully if the operator is using it against several other cars in the area, but you're right it's hard to detect.

Radar Detectors don't mean you can just stop paying attention, but i've saved plenty in tickets to pay for my V1 at least 3 times over . The arrows are AWESOME.

 

The good thing about LIDAR is that, if you're observant, you can often spot a trap. Some guy on an overpass, or a flat straight stretch with lots of congestion, and cars or motorcycles on the roadside or...

In my opinion, you're kinda nuts to speed in an urban high-traffic area anyway - cause that's where the traps are likely to be around here. I know that if you live in LA that doesn't leave many places... I'm dang glad I DON'T....

 

Yes, I have an Escort X50 8500 and am very pleased with it. I went with the Escort over the Valentine for two reasons:

1. NJ state troopers still use X band. The reviews that I read, mentioned that the V1 tended to false a bit more on X band than the Escort.
2. Price. IMHO, I don't think that the performance difference (if any exists) between the Escort and the V1 justified me spending the extra $125 or so.

I know folks are as religiously fervent about their radar detectors as they are about their MINIs but don't read into my comments that I am slamming the V1 because I'm not. Both the Escort and the V1 are excellent detectors.

 

i just use my gut and feel.
i dont go crazyfast but i do drive fast. i'll usually spot the cop before he can radar me at all. and sometimes i get lucky when im driving on back roads and wat not.
but then again i have gotten pulled over three times and gotten 2 tickets
got away with one ticket but other one..
radar detectors (i find..) are really helpful for spotting cops driving around you or in back roads and streets in general. but that's just my opinion.
i'd rather use my money on car parts.

 

I have the Escort PASSPORT 9500i. I swear by it. Somewhere on NAM my husband posted a write-up I did on this product.

Radar Detectors are like most things MINI; based on individual preference. If you are happy with the product you acquired, that's really all that matters.

 

I got a Whistler DE1788 and the sucky thing is that the damn power plug ripped out the lighter socket and now i cant use it! $120 replacement!


Make sure you try to find a radar detector that has a plug that actually fits a mini...

 

Ditch the lighter socket option. Hardwire it.

 

We use the solo 2 (it is cordless) and it has saved our butts more than once , I bought it for my hubby a few yrs ago, he rides sport bikes and needed something that was cordless, so it was convenient when we got our mini the only problem we have is when he's on the bike and i'm in the mini

 

I used to use detectors and swore off them for the following reasons:

• too many false alarms
• too many tickets - they gave me a false sense of safety
• not as reliable as using common sense

By common sense I mean only speed in areas where you can see far ahead, traffic volume is light and there are no obvious hiding places. Only 1 ticket in 10 years.

one other trick - follow 200 yards behind a 'crazy' driver who acts as the radar gun attractant.

 

I swear by the Valentine - the directional arrows are priceless for knowing where the alert is coming from. Any radar dectector is useless if you're on a deserted road and the trooper has his gun in "pulse" mode - no signal until he presses the trigger as soon as he sees you. Your detector will suddenly scream bloody murder, but it's too late - you're clocked!

 

Yup, I don't see the point in getting a radar detector unless it shows you where the cops are. I get a KA alert, see the arrow is behind me, strength low and getting stronger, 10 seconds later a highway patrol car comes flying past me at 95 MPH. Also tells you when they're on the other side of the freeway, Signal strength low and getting stronger ahead of you, then it swings to side, then to behind, you know it's not a threat.

POP band radar is pretty unreliable with any detector as you said. In LA you'll be hard pressed to find a time when there isn't at least 1 other car on the road with you though. The second that radar goes off, the V1 goes crazy.

Still, POP is ridiculously easy to defend in court. The radar guns themselves say they need at least a few seconds to calculate the speed properly, and it shouldn't be used as the sole source of speed calculation unless you have a lock for at least 5 seconds or there about. Plenty of time to slow down.

I haven't gotten one ticket since I bought the V1. It's saved me plenty of times, but it takes common sense to use. Having a radar detector blare at you every time you pass a supermarket doesn't help, thats what I love about the V1, it gives you SOO much information about contacts, location, and band, that you really have to be zoned out to get a ticket with it .

In a time where one speeding ticket costs almost as much as the V1, it's more than paid for itself.

 

To each his own, but as to "false sense of security:" The fact that you have one doesn't mean you should not pay attention, anymore than having ABS brakes means you fly up to an intersection and slam your brakes on. As to "common sense", a cop can be hiding or patrolling anywhere, in virtually any kind of car (at least in MD). I bought a V1 when they first came out, just got a brand new one for an "upgrade" that saved me about $170. Not one ticket in all that time. Definitely worth it.

 

CA has VERY strict speed trap laws. The car must be marked, and by marked I mean fully painted police cruiser with a light bar. They also can't hide behind bushes and trees, they have to be in plain sight. On top of the typical speed trap nonsense there's also a lot on the books about surveyed speed. The Prima facie speedlimit is 55 mph, there has to be a current engineering survey dictating why it should be lower in order to enforce a lower speed limit, etc etc.

Common sense should ALWAYS be used when speeding. There's a reason they have speed limits. If you're going to break the law, at least do it safely. Always pay attention and be alert. There's a reason drivers in Germany doing 130 all day long don't get into the same amount of accidents us in the states do. They PAY ATTENTION! Sure the accidents may be more deadly at those speeds, but when you're going 100+ MPH, you're not sipping your latte and chatting away on your cellphone .

 

I've used Escort since they first came out back in the eighties. I have the X50 8500 now and it's saved my butt more than I can count. I have never used a Valentine but i understand they are very good, just a little too much money for me. I don't think you can go wrong with the Escort.

06MCS/DS/B/Bbonnetstripes/Whalen8ballshiftmachine

 

Not always true. I was riding with a German salesman in his Audi Avant (aka station wagon.) We were doing 145 in a light rain, and he takes a telephone call! I about messed my pants! (No cupholders, though.)

 

FYI- had a V1 in the car on a road trip last week, on my way back there were multiple troopers who were "pacing" detector never went off but my situational alertness kept me on my normal good behavior. And locally on my commute I've got about 50% odds that the method of choice will be laser or pacing, but the V1 shines in the podunk towns near by that stop for less than 5 over/10% course the V1 also does spend the majoirty of its time in the glove box, basically a road trips only/ additional info kind of thing, cause if you speed it is really only a matter of time before you're stopped, some good detectors delay that though.

IB4TL

 

I have an Escort 8500 which has kept me out of trouble NUMEROUS times and provides me with a lot of entertainment as I see other people get bagged because they didn't have one.
However, as has been said , there is literally no defense for Lidar and I got had but good. My current position is that:
A) I am never the fastest one on the road
B) if I am alone, I am doing no more than 5 over the posted speed
C) my average speed is no faster than anyone else around me at any given time and frequently that is quite fast.

My Lidar equiped LEO friend flagged my license # in the laptop in his cruiser , he said if I get ticketed again he will know it, and that he's coming to my house to arrest me on the original infraction of driving to endanger, which in the sovereign state of Massachusetts is 20 mph over the posted speed limit (which I was totally guilty of) (ticket was for $305, paid it the same day). Word to the wise, take your excessive speed to the track where it belongs.

 

You know how some cars go under the radar? They look slow so the cops don't really bother with them that much.

How much of a target is the mini? I would love to hear from experienced mini drivers out there.

Is it so 'cute' that it flies under the radar? or is it so noticeable that it has a target painted on it saying 'catch me!'

 

no, the word I've heard is that the police are only too aware of how fast our cars can go and are not passing them by because they "look so cute"

 

Trooper:"That your MINI?"
Me: "Yeah."
Trooper:"THose are fast cars, huh?"
Me: "Well I got it past 125 on the backstrech at Sebring Raceway before I started looking for my braking point."
Trooper:"WOW"

Make of it what you will, but I doubt that they're "under the radar"

 

I thought the 'cute' comment might get a rise.

 

Some things are worth saving money on by purchasing a cheaper alternative. Radar detectors aren't one of those things. V1. Nothing else truly compares.