Just got back from a 600 road trip with my new V1 radar detector. All I can say is its worth the $400. I would say that 95% of this trip was on the freeway.

I had the unit set to max filter and it worked very well. Almost everytime it went off, it WAS THE MAN. The man was either on the side of the road, setting in a parking lot, or out in the median of the freeway, but at all times he had his gun aimed right at me and the MINI.

The unit let me know about the radar with lots of time to reduce speed if needed.

Out of the nine or ten times the V1 started singing, the best alert came from behind the MINI. The V1 has a feature that lets you know when radar is coming from behind you and lets you know with a red arrow pointing to the rear and with a brap brap sound and a signal strength bar that lets you know right away how serious is that alert.

I'm driving down I-40 when the V1 tells me I have a bogey behind me. The signal gets stronger and stronger. I look in my rear view mirror but I don't see any problem. I think I was doing maybe 10 over the posted speed of 70, as is the five other cars that was running along with me in a pack. I was not the lead car, but was number 2.

The V1 is now going crazy with lights, arrows and the famous brap brap sound. I still don't see the problem yet, but the V1 says you better slow down, and like right now.

I back off to the speed limit, pull to the right lane, and the other 3 cars that were running 80 or so behind me, just keep going full speed ahead.

Then....there he is....A Okla State Trooper. A couple of miles up the road, he has the # 5 car running in the pack pulled over. Now I didn't know that radar can get you from behind. And I still don't know if the trooper got the other guy with radar, or just clocked his speed from behind. All I know is, the trooper didn't get me and the MINI. The V1 told me the man was behind me somewhere.

I think for me the Valentine One just makes me a more alert driver. Yep It's high dollar, but one good speeding ticket is high dollar also.

 

nice tale with the V1!

Im thinking about getting the V1 or the passport 8500. I have done some reading on both units...on here and other message boards, but still dont know which one to get. the ehh, iono

btw, is ur V1 hardwired? if so, got any pics?

thanks,
-chris

 

I have a friend who just bought both the V1 and the passport 8500. He is testing them side by side for a month and returning the losing unit within the 30 day trial period.

From what he has said, it sounds like Escort is going to get back one 8500 and he will keep the V-1

He says the arrow signals make the biggest difference and that both are similarly sensitive.

 

Yes, picks please. How do you have it mounted/wired?

 

Nope no hard wire here. I just had it mounted to the sun visor. I'm real pleased with the performance of this unit.

Do a search, as I think someone posted about a V1 hardwire sometime back with pics I think.

At any rate, you can't go wrong with the V1, and I think it's the only detector that looks for radar from behind and lets you know. :smile:

 

I've done a half-a$$ job of hardwiring my V-1. I simply pushed some telephone cord between the windshield and headliner and then ran it down the A-pillar to the floor. It looks clean and is quickly removed if I need to. . . .

 

Gonna give my new V1 a 900 mile test drive starting tommorrow and will be covering I-40 from OK to Santa Rosa NM. Hope it works as well for me too!

 

Check out my V1 + ZR3 Install

The next thing you need is a laser "shifter".

-Mark

 

66cooper, hey just plug it in and take off. I run mine on max filter, to filter out all of the junk alerts.

I do know the Okla Highway Patrol runs radar, whick band I'm not sure of. Texas and New Mexico also run radar units, but again not sure which band. Just know the V1 will protect your fanny.

Just watch out for the instant on laser. If you get shot with that, the V1 nor any other radar detector can help you slow down in time.

If you get hit with instant on, its probably game over. :smile:

 

Real men don't use radar detectors.......

 

I am curious as to how the new Passport matches up to the Valentine One. Passport released the 8550, which was suppose to be more powerful.

 

I called Valentine One to find out more about radar from behind. The tech support guy said that more and more police are starting to use radar that can clock your speed while they are behind you some distance away.

Thats what the Okla Trooper had going when he passed me and got the other guy doing eighty. The best thing is not to be the lead car or the rear car in a pack of cars running together. But I have seen where three or four cars were pulled over at the same time, so the pack thing can still burn you from time to time.

Also the Valentine One is the only detector on the market that has front and rear radar checks, plus two laser detects.

 

I also have a V1 and while it did save me big bucks during long road trips, in city trafffic (Seattle) it is nearly useless because most cops here use instant-on or pacing with unmarked cars. No matter how good the radar detector is, if there is an unmarked car pacing you then you are toasted.

 

Just out of curiosity (cuz its never happened to me) how does a police officer pull over an entire pack of cars? Just pull alongside of them and flag em down?

 

A big second for the V1 - bought one before a 2,500 mile road trip. Good money spent. Even if you're not speeding, it's good entertainment to see where they are, and the directional arrows are priceless.
I did get zapped with laser once in NorCal - I thought the V1 was going to explode with all the lights and sounds it made! I was only going 5 over, but as has been said, if they've got laser, you're toast.
Note: if you want to save a few bucks, you can get a remanufactured unit for a 10% discount. Same warrantee as with a 'new' unit. Since it would make no sense to do anything but replace all the guts, reman seemed like a reasonable option. Been working great for 8+ years.

 

I've seen that. Cop keeping pace with the lead car and signal him to pull over, then cop waited until the 2nd leader pull up to the original leader's place and did the same thing. Repeat this for all the cars.

It is much easier if all cars are in the same lane. On multiple lane situations I've seen cop flashing in the leftest lane and trying to assume a lead position, while signalling all cars to pull over.

 

One other thing I forgot to mention. Sometimes when your detector gives you a couple of short blips then nothing....don't shrug it off.... it could be you are getting INSTANT ON LASER warnings from up ahead.

A friend of mine got burned this way sometime back. His detector was giving him some short blips of two then it would stop...then another two blips then it would stop. He blew off the short blips as probably junk signals, then he tells me he gets pulled over from a motorcycle officer who was aiming instant on laser. He said he had time to slow down but didn't think he needed too.

One of the main features I like about the V1 is it tells you what band of radar is in use or if laser may be in use. I know now if the V1 starts giving me short blips that go off and on, I know it could be the man with the ole laser gun.

All you can hope for is enough time to react so you are not the man's next victim :smile:

 

I think I'm going to get a load of hate for this one, but...

Would any of you take a $400 a year insurance savings if the insurance company installed an 80 MPH speed limiter in your car?

I sure would in a second.

 

At least three of us in Colorado have now hard wired the V1 by using the drivers visor vanity light power. It is mounted to the the headliner just to the right of the clock . Take the metal part off the V1 visor clip mount and pop rivet or screw only the plastic slide mount thru the Headliner using a thin piece of backing. When you take the clock out it's easy to use a coat hanger the thread the V1 supplied hardwired power setup's red and black wires over the the corner. This way the inline fuse can still be used too. A bit of velcro secures the jack up in the roof of the headliner above and to the left of the clock in the roof space. Then any short phone cord is used to power the V1 by snaking out the clock base. It's easier to thread if the rear view mirror is taken off by rotating it's base anti- clockwise. This will expose a round black clip you pull down to loosen up the headliner. CSIBMINI aka Brad in Colorado Springs was the first to sort this location out and should get credit.

It's up high and still "sees" out the back yet a steath location that is hard to see from outside the car.

Jeff

 

I had a V1 for my 4,551 mile roadtrip covering 11 states from TN to CA. My overall feeling was that the V1 or any radar detector for that matter was more useful in some states over others. I covered a lot of distance in a short period of time, but I need to be general in my facts here since I need to refer to my Hiplog for the details which I will include here for reference. http://www.hiplogs.com/hiplog/read/4/686

To me, radar is a tool for pointing out what you can't see. But in many places, what you can't see is a crowded place, and that radar becomes a tool based on experience whereby you expect false alarms to occur, and need to learn to identify when something out of the ordinary exists, I.e. A cop with radar.

On my trip where there were vast expanses of nothing until the occasional city, using radar was pretty easy. In a place like Los Angeles, where all major freeways pass through and around major cities, radar isn't as useful since its always going off, whether its cause you passed a Best Buys or a car dealership.

In several instances, the V1 went off while driving through the Great Plains, and there seemed to be nothing there, except cows and lots of land. No police in sight, much less human beings. No idea why that kept happening.

These false alarms became a nuisance at one point that almost got me a ticket. I entered a city, and the alarm was going off, but no cop in sight, though lots of car dealers so I thought it was a false alarm. The city was small and when I passed through it, the alarm continued to go off, so I Muted it thinking it was going crazy, that's when I noticed the traffic ahead was clustered, and in the center was an unmarked SUV patrol officer. That's an instance where lack of experience with the territory and constant false alarms really can be fatal.

After my roadtrip, I continued to use the V1 in my daily life in Los Angeles, and found it impractical for most of the routes I drive. There are instances where Radar would be great to have, but at a cost of $400 and needing to replace a cracked windshield also at $400, it was a simple decision. If I ever get another radar detector it'll either be a V1 or an integrated hidden unit that fits under my bumpers.

 

>>I think I'm going to get a load of hate for this one, but...
>>
>>Would any of you take a $400 a year insurance savings if the insurance company installed an 80 MPH speed limiter in your car?
>>
>>I sure would in a second.

They already do - for many cars from the 70's and 80's. My wife's '83 Nissan Sentra would barely get to 80, and it cost $400 less to insure than my supercharged miata. You couldn't pay me enough.

Would I be too dramatic to say, "Those that would give up Liberty for Safety deserve neither."?

 

You can counter the laser with the Passport ZR3 "shifter" (aka. jammer).

I disabled the V-1 laser, so no more of those annoying false alarms when I'm behind cars with rear lights emiting a certain wavelength of reflection.

I saw this recently on the M5 board and thought it was pretty interesting: http://store.stealth-one.com/ I suspect this would work with the MINI Nav?

-Mark

 

>>At least three of us in Colorado have now hard wired the V1 by using the drivers visor vanity light power. It is mounted to the the headliner just to the right of the clock . Take the metal part off the V1 visor clip mount and pop rivet or screw only the plastic slide mount thru the Headliner using a thin piece of backing. When you take the clock out it's easy to use a coat hanger the thread the V1 supplied hardwired power setup's red and black wires over the the corner. This way the inline fuse can still be used too. A bit of velcro secures the jack up in the roof of the headliner above and to the left of the clock in the roof space. Then any short phone cord is used to power the V1 by snaking out the clock base. It's easier to thread if the rear view mirror is taken off by rotating it's base anti- clockwise. This will expose a round black clip you pull down to loosen up the headliner. CSIBMINI aka Brad in Colorado Springs was the first to sort this location out and should get credit.
>>
>>It's up high and still "sees" out the back yet a steath location that is hard to see from outside the car.
>>
>>Jeff

Masher, I haven't heard this before, it sounds pretty interesting. Dumb question(s), to confirm, is the lead "hot" without opening the vanity cover to activate the light? Is it a switched lead, i.e. I don't need to turn off my V1 when stopping?

 

>>I think I'm going to get a load of hate for this one, but...
>>
>>Would any of you take a $400 a year insurance savings if the insurance company installed an 80 MPH speed limiter in your car?
>>
>>I sure would in a second.


Seeing as how some states have 75 mph limits on Freeways, and you'd get RAN OVER at 80, no frikkin' way.

 

The Visor light power lead is hot with the key on or if you open any door or the hatchback. But when you lock the car or close the doors it goes out when the interior lights go out. Works great so you can leave the V1 switched on all the time.

Jeff