Hey Everyone,

I just finished installing a brand new mount specific for the Valentine 1. This mount is great and exactly what I wanted. A good under the mirror mount. Take a look and let me know your thoughts. I know a lot of folks have mounted theirs up above the mirror, but that location just doesn't work for me.

 

Sweet!

I've been thinking about running my wire through the headliner for some time now, but just haven't quite pulled the trigger.

 

Nice setup. How did you end up attaching the metal clip to the rear view mirror. Does the V1 end up bouncing around/vibrating much?

It's a clean setup, but quite a bit less stealthy (ie. fro the cop who pulled you over's point of view) than having the V1 up at the headliner. Then again, it looks like you have a tint strip across the top few inches of your windshield that precludes you using that mounting position.

Nice job.

Dave

 

Its not distracting there? I tend to hate things hanging from my mirror, although it must get great reception there.

 

The bracket is attached to the back of the mirror with industrial strength double sided tape. I just get it installed today and drove around for ~15 minutes with it mounted. It vibrates very minutely; nothing to worry about. I prefer it be mounted there. Better reception and easier to reach when I want to mute the "in city" signals. No problems with view and detectors aren't illegal here in my state so I don't worry about the local police seeing it.

 

Interesting. But I don't understand ... did you fabricate a mount and use velcro to attach to the rearview mirror?

 

IIRC detectors are only illegal in Virginia and Quebec (not sure about the rest of Canada), however many believe the shear visibility of one causes the police to take notice, and you would be more likely to get a ticket. However, I completely disagree with that opinion.

 

Positioning looks good. I preferred to mount slightly lower with the wire coming from behind the speedometer with an add-a-fuse.






Don't forget also illegal in Connecticut.

 

Man, MINI's huge rearview mirror already gets in the way too much... sticking another opaque thing under it? Out of the question!

 

The law in CT changed... detectors have been legal since 1998.

 

Thats what I thought, otherwise I would have been in big trouble.

BTW mines tapped right into the map light (there's a great write up by someone on here) really looks great didn't have to run to much cord, much cleaner than my allroad which I ran through the headliner down to the fuse box.

 

Really? Every time I drive through to Mohegan Sun the sign clearly states to take them down...must be an old sign.

 

I don't like it. It's too low and in your face. Valentine also says the higher you can get your V1 in the windshield, the better, especially for best chance of detecting laser as early as possible. Mine goes left and above the mirror. I would like to have a mounting solution off the windshield, but this isn't it.

It's very easy to do. It takes 10 minutes. It was the first thing I did when I got my JCW.

 

As I stated in the OP; many have installed it above the mirror, as you have. And as you don't like this setup. I don't like the above mirror setup. I Want the detector as you put it "in my face" for two reasons. First, for safety. The less distance I have to shift my gaze the quicker I can read the detector to view where the threat lies and the quicker I can get my eyes back on the road to see what really matters. Second, this location affords an easier reach to hit the mute button when driving in town. Which most of my driving is. I"ve used this installation location in my corvette, which sits ALOT lower than this car, for over 7 years and haven't had an issue with missing radar signals whether they be standard or laser and getting a ticket. I will stick with a system that is proven to work. I also don't want to find out first hand whether or not the metal in the tint at the top of my winshield blocks the radar signal.

 

Wouldn't the cord hinder the installation of a sun shade? I need to be able to install a sun shade every day as my car sits in a parking lot full of the Hot FL sun for 8-10 hours a day.

 

Yes, the mount was fabricated, powder coated and installed using industrial double sided tape.

 

You asked for opinions, I gave mine.

FYI: There is no tint at the top of the windshield in my JCW.

 

I also have mine above and left of mirror, perfect placement, out of the way, secure and plenty of visibility front/rear. Just be careful on the electrical. Although I used a clean fuse tap on mine, the dealer nailed me for an entire fuse panel when the seat heater stopped working.

 

 

Yeah, I also don't quite get the "safety" advantage.

Just for fun I grabbed a tape measure. Taken from the top-center of the steering wheel, the mute button -- as I have it mounted now, top/left of the rear view -- is 11" away, and if I were to use the mount putting it below the rear view, it would be more like 12-13" but certainly not less. I consider that a negligible difference that will make no real difference. If anything the top/left mounting is safer since it does not obstruct the view out the windshield, whereas the under rear view mounting is more obstructive. It blocks driver's view towards right.

 

If you want the best (range and saftey) it would be best mounted above rear view mirror (for range), with the remote display wired to somewhere on the dash near speedo or right above steering wheel (safety), or get the HUD I've seen in places.

Also, detectors are definitly legal in CT, maybe they are illegal on the reservation. The one other place I forgot to mention was D.C. where they are also illegal.

 

Here's a great website for those who enjoy spirited motoring:

Reasonable Drivers Unanimous:

http://www.ibiblio.org/rdu/home2.html

See this page at least:

TEN BEST TIPS FOR FEARLESS FLYING

http://www.ibiblio.org/rdu/a-10fly.html

 

I question this. Laser has a very small target footprint (opposed to radar where RF goes all over the place), even at the distances used for traffic enforcement. For maximum reflection, officers will point at the most reflective area on the oncoming target, which for most cars (and especially the MINI) is the headlights. Mounting your detector high will actually lower your chances of getting a hit from the LIDAR gun.

http://www.radarbusters.com/mountdet...rlyarticle.cfm

That said, mine sits above my rear view mirror. I might move it down if I ever see SC law enforcement having the budget for LIDAR.

 

Not necessarily a ticket, but I was harassed one night driving home from Greenville by a state trooper who just rode around 10 car lengths behind me popping me with instant on about every 30 seconds. I finally made use of the dark mode on the 9500ix. The pop radar stopped and he passed me shortly after. So I do believe they'll take notice at least.

 

Not according to the advice on using a V1 at their own site. While I have a V1 I will consider V1's advice on mounting over others unless I see compelling evidence to the contrary.