best radar detector

The battery operated model is extremely neat. I use it on my Yamaha YZF 600R. I just stick it under the tiny windshield along with the IPASS. The batteries last a decent amount of time. I use the cord model (12v) in my car, but if you don't like the cord hanging down (which probably bothers no one), or don't have a working outlet, go for the cordless. Otherwise I like the cord model better. For all of you people who hate the cord hanging down, you can place the radar detector under your rearview mirror, and run the cord along the base of the mirror and up into the top of the car (under the roof but still above the fabric). Then connect it to a nearby source, or get some thin cable and run it where you want. I would advise making a switch to break the circuit to turn off the radar instead of hitting the power button.(I'm lazy)Ohh yea, I would place the radar under the rear view mirror because it be out of the way of the reflecting sun rays from the hood(this varies from car to car).

 

I found my V1 and looked around for where to mount it. It seems like there are only two choices: passenger sun visor or remote mount on a ceiling in a space between right and center rear seats so rearview mirror does not block signal from the front of the car. The latter seems to be more convenient but you'll have to run remote display wire to the dash.

Dash mount is not good since wipers are blocking front sensor.

 

"... In one direction speed limit is 35 mph. In another it is 25 mph. Typically everyone except very few drives 40. Recently I noticed police car sitting after dark with light out (obviously in that 25 direction). ...

I have read elsewhere that unless a special condition exists (like a school zone), speed limit is set to what 80% of motorists drive at. I drive this road twice daily and everyone with very few exceptions drives 40. Why the limit is 25? I suspect that it has nothing to do with 80%. It has to do with city income.
..."

The usual standards are that the posted limit be the same for both directions on an undivided road. The 85 percentile is the number used, but there may be other factors - accident experience, curves, etc. Often there is a statutory limit in the vicinity of schools in session. Typically most drivers are in a fairly narrow range around the median (50 percentile), and the over 85 percentile will keep a ticket writer busy enough.

(traffic engineer, licensed in California)

 

its probably moot now, because all it alarms you to is 99% alarm systems and
automatic cruise control systems, and aren't most police departments now
using laser??

the secret to owning a radar detector is to drive around for a very long time with it
get the feeling to know which parts of your daily commute always set off the radar
detector, so when the radar detector does go off, it goes off in a place that it normally
does not, therefore alerting you to actual police radar

 

Have a concealed whistler Fuzion. It looks like a 52mm round guage that you mount like an auxillary oil pressure guage....the radar detector mounts behind the grill (remote mount) the laser detector hangs from the mirror(very small) and the warning speaker mounts wherever, i put mine above the seat belt. It works great and is difficult to see that it is there

 

I have 2 detectors. For the highway, Valentine 1, for the city Bel RX65. The V1 will drive you crazy in town. I would not ever use a cordless. It conserves battery life by continuously turning itself on and off. Check this link for relatively unbiased testing. The Solo S2 scores at or near the bottom in nearly every category:

Radar Detector Tests and Reviews by Guys of LIDAR

 

If your V1 is being outperformed by a Solo S2, you need to send the Valentine in for service. The S2 is not even close to the detector the V1 is.

 

"The best Escort" is not the Solo S2, but the Passport 9500i and consequently the Passport 8500 X50, which is the same without the 9500i's GPS functionality. I once read through a very long radar detector test that compared the 8500 X50 with the Beltronics BEL RX65 (same architecture as the Passport) and the Valentine One, and all three radar detectors performed very well. The only remarkable difference was that the Valentine One set off many, many more false alarms than the others.

A V1 is being outperformed by an 8500 X50 wouldn't worry me too much. They're pretty equally good detectors.

 

The best radar is your Prius. Since I drive my Prius, I never got the chance to speed. I only learn how to pulse & glide and archived higher MPG.

 

I put my radar detector in the glove compartment and it has been sitting there since I bought my Prius 2 months ago. I no longer exceed the speed limit to the extend that I would ever have to worry about getting a ticket.

If I ever get pulled over in my Prius now, it will be because I have a clear plastic license plate cover which is now ILLEGAL in the State of Illinois effective June 1, 2008. I kid you not,, I just saw it on the Secretary of State website for updated 2007/2008 drivers laws. All plastic license plate covers,, both tinted and CLEAR are now illegal. OMG Are they friggen serious or what.....

But at least I won't be pulled over for speeding..... Anyone want to buy a Cobra radar Dectector.....

 

That's all well and good, but if I'm going down my street (a 20 mph zone) at 35 miles an hour I don't want to run the risk. Coming out of the turn and pulsing to 35 or so and coasting down the street is a bit better for fuel economy than holding at 20.

The radar detector is peace of mind, if nothing else. I'll drive down Causeway doing, say, 52 in the 45, and when the limit changes to 35 at the bottom of an overpass I'd rather let it glide down through the forties knowing no one's shooting radar than slow to the limit and maybe miss the light, thereby needing to accelerate again and burn excess fuel.

Exceeding posted speed limits may be against the law, yes, but there are situations in which it is reasonable and even more economical.