# Best radar?



## Zachlava (Aug 1, 2013)

What should I get. Cobra XRS 9745 or Beltronics vector 955? The beltronics would be like 40 dollars more


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## vulpinethrone31 (Aug 26, 2012)

I use a valentine 1 radar stealth setup, work absolutely perfect. I am alerted before they even have a chance to get a reading. I will say that when it comes to laser your s.o.l. I am in the process of installing a laser jamming 4 unit(2 front 2 back) on the car. My post>>> http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/36-audio-electronics/10326-valentine-1-radar-stealth-install.html


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## giantsnation (Oct 11, 2012)

I know there are many debates on this these. But the bottom line is that none of them really work. Truth #1 - if the device "detects" radar, then that means that a cop at the very least can see you. Truth #2 - a cop's word (because of their training) is all they need in court. A cop (at least in NY and the surrounding states) has the authority to write you a ticket based on his estimation of your speed. Go ahead and argue with me on this but the jokes on you.


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## giantsnation (Oct 11, 2012)

I'll add to this by saying that your better off finding the "safe" speed that cops won't bother you at. In NY, that speed in a 65mph zone is ~76-78mph. Stay in that range and your good to go. Going 77mph, I don't even slow down when I see a trooper.


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## AmbersCruze8822 (May 22, 2013)

giantsnation said:


> I'll add to this by saying that your better off finding the "safe" speed that cops won't bother you at. In NY, that speed in a 65mph zone is ~76-78mph. Stay in that range and your good to go. Going 77mph, I don't even slow down when I see a trooper.


I was always wondering the safe speed if you will, rode with a few local cops they were all so different I live in NY too yuck lol


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## Zachlava (Aug 1, 2013)

Still never answered my question about what I posted between the both radars haha. But the safe speed was very helpful actually. I just sort of like seeing where the cops are and I don't really speed obnoxiously all the time but the heads up from the radar would help alot to me


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## APCruze (Mar 7, 2013)

giantsnation said:


> Truth #2 - a cop's word (because of their training) is all they need in court. A cop (at least in NY and the surrounding states) has the authority to write you a ticket based on his estimation of your speed. Go ahead and argue with me on this but the jokes on you.


At least in NC , but other states work this way also, the citation is based on the officers estimation of your speed based off his training, the radar is a means to re-enforce that his estimate was correct. This is why they do not have to have a radar unit at all to cit on speed. 

Answer the origanl question, both seem decent, especially if you are just wanting it to see where cops are. For this reason I suggest save the extra $40.00. I will warn you not all police cars have radar or other speed devices and many are trained to only activate the signal when they are actually attempting to get a persons speed. This cause it to only put a signal out that a radar detector picks up for 3-10 seconds at the most which is not enough time to even touch the break.


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## Zachlava (Aug 1, 2013)

It's not that I only want to see where cops are I still need It sometimes cause I travel to my dads house on the thru way about 100 miles away. Also a key feature the 955 has is it doesn't let X signals in therefor my radar won't be going off all the time for store automatic doors and stuff. 


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## Hoon (Mar 18, 2012)

I haven't followed this stuff in a long time but back in the day cobra was garbage. 

V1 or one of the top Bell models. Escort made some decent cheap(er) ones. 

With radar detectors it's get what you pay for. If a radar detector is <$400 i don't want it. I've been using a Bell STI Driver for about 5 years and it has paid for itself many times. I'm sure by now they make much better models, but the V1 has always been solid also.


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## ErikBEggs (Aug 20, 2011)

Um, aren't radar detectors illegal as f**k in NY?

They won't touch you on the Thruway until 80 mph so why bother?


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## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

LOL 80 don't work in NJ at all. Radar is pointless since the cops usualy hide the exact same spot. Some are in drive with brake lights and some just park the car in neutral agains the rut or pothole in servailance mode. A good deal of cop cars here went all black and no reflective decals whatsoever. Some went as far as black cars with black decals on the botom of the back doors so it's an "marked car". As for radars being illegal there is a way to catch someoen w/o all the fancy tech VA state uses. When someone gets painted they always slam on their brakes, literally. A jamed radar detector displays "HELP" for speed reading so be careful with that.


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## ErikBEggs (Aug 20, 2011)

So apparently radar detection is legal in every state except Virginia. Interesting.

Usually just following the first idiot that blows by you at 90 mph works. The law will pull him over before you if you give him the head start.


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## giantsnation (Oct 11, 2012)

ErikBEggs said:


> So apparently radar detection is legal in every state except Virginia. Interesting.


This should tell you something. They don't work! You know NY, if it worked, they would be illegal.


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## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

ErikBEggs said:


> So apparently radar detection is legal in every state except Virginia. Interesting.
> 
> Usually just following the first idiot that blows by you at 90 mph works. The law will pull him over before you if you give him the head start.


Illegal on military installations as well. 


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## ErikBEggs (Aug 20, 2011)

giantsnation said:


> This should tell you something. They don't work! You know NY, if it worked, they would be illegal.


You made my freakin day with this post! lol.

Good ol' Nu Yawk


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## Wyre (Jul 23, 2011)

Personally I use an Escort 9500ix. A good friend of mine is in law enforcement and I tested this radar detector against his radar gun. I picked him up almost 2 miles away... If I were speeding this would have given me ample time to slow down.

Radar detectors work because they can detect the radar signal while it is still very weak. Before the radar gun can get a lock.

Been driving with a radar detector for over 20 years. No tickets yet. (not saying that I dont deserve one or two)


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

The best radar? The one the cops got.


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## Aussie (Sep 16, 2012)

Here is a novel idea, obey the speed limit, works every time for me.


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## Patman (May 7, 2011)

Most police do not use radar anymore. They all use Laser. Most Radar notification you will get is from stores that still have not converted their doors(Walmart, Home Depot). Laser, once it goes off, it is too late. Your speed is known. The trick is just don't "blow by" everyone else or drive stupid and keep it below + 15 MPH.


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## Patman (May 7, 2011)

ErikBEggs said:


> So apparently radar detection is legal in every state except Virginia. Interesting.
> 
> Usually just following the first idiot that blows by you at 90 mph works. The law will pull him over before you if you give him the head start.



Police will see someone speeding and wait to see if there is anyone "pacing" them. I was doing 93 in Va and I saw a cop but he did not pull out to get me immediately. He waited and then got me. But had another car follow him. The 2nd car was pacing me so the cop waited to get 2 with one stop, pulled him over and had him follow him to pull me over. I should have run like the wind!!! and pulled off the next exit but I don't know I 64 that well!...


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## Aussie (Sep 16, 2012)

Patman said:


> Police will see someone speeding and wait to see if there is anyone "pacing" them. I was doing 93 in Va and I saw a cop but he did not pull out to get me immediately. He waited and then got me. But had another car follow him. The 2nd car was pacing me so the cop waited to get 2 with one stop, pulled him over and had him follow him to pull me over. I should have run like the wind!!! and pulled off the next exit but I don't know I 64 that well!...


Do you really believe he didn't already have your plate number?


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## Patman (May 7, 2011)

Aussie said:


> Do you really believe he didn't already have your plate number?


I am sure he knew who I was and the radio is faster than any car and I did not want any more trouble so I took it like a man! I knew I was speeding just not sure how fast! Turned out to be 93 in a 65. $400


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## CanaryGT (Aug 12, 2013)

I have used the Passport 8500, then I bought the 9500ix, Now I'm on the Escort Max. People who say they don't work are only partially true. Mine have saved me more times then I can remember. Have I also been pulled over with one? Yes. Is it 100% ALWAYS going to save you? No. Nothing will. 


The reason why no one gave you a suggestion between which detector of the two you should buy is because neither one is worth buying. If you ask me, go Passport or don't bother.


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## Smurfenstein (Nov 16, 2011)

Funny thing about pacing, if you're in CA and you're in a group of speeders, best place to be is in the middle, or up front. If a cop finds a group/pair of speeders, even if you're going 70-75, and a group in front of you is pulling on you at 80, you'll get the ticket. Reason being, you're still speeding which means they can give you a ticket, you're easier to catch then the group, and with you pulled over on the side of the road they get the oh **** factor of everyone who passes by slamming on their brakes.

Funny thing about that, unless the cop is sitting there without anyone pulled over in front of him, his laser is turned off since he's busy giving the guy a ticket, so as long as you don't rev loudly next to him, and you're not going 20+ over, you're fine.


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## plasticplant (Mar 26, 2013)

giantsnation said:


> I'll add to this by saying that your better off finding the "safe" speed that cops won't bother you at. In NY, that speed in a 65mph zone is ~76-78mph. Stay in that range and your good to go. Going 77mph, I don't even slow down when I see a trooper.


Wow. That's must be nice (11-12 over). Around here (IL/WI), a Trooper will roll on you for doing 71mph...Nothing worse than states that are strapped for cash.


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## ErikBEggs (Aug 20, 2011)

plasticplant said:


> Wow. That's must be nice (11-12 over). Around here (IL/WI), a Trooper will roll on you for doing 71mph...Nothing worse than states that are strapped for cash.


In NY you are safe on the NYS Thruway going 10-12 over. However, they patrol our urban highways (55 mph) much much tighter. They patrol them so tight now the town police are patrolling them to make money.. smh


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## hificruzer226 (Mar 27, 2013)

9500ci by escort is my fav with laser jamming all stealth, usually what I install for most... Valentine is good but hasnt really been updated that much since the 80;s hahaha he actually came from escort


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Radar detectors are legal anywhere in the US - Federal Communications Act explicitly allows individuals to own any RF receiver for any band that is NOT restricted to government uses. All police radar work in open bands, which is why you will get false positives on any radar detector. What some states have done to get around this is to pass laws making it illegal to put anything in your windshield or on the dash that blocks any forward view except for state required stickers. Then they put up signs stating that radar detectors are illegal without explaining why. Even the US Military had to come up with a new location for base stickers to comply with these laws. Technically even GPS systems that block the windshield can be ticketed under these laws.

As for how useful they are - it depends on how fast you drive. When I drove from Colorado to New Hampshire and back I sat at 5 over the entire time I was on rural interstates, except in construction zones where I stayed with traffic or the posted limit if I was the only one there. In NY I got passed by a state trooper and I passed several speed traps along the way in different states. Even at 5 over I was usually the slowest car on the road and never the fastest.


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## NYCruizer (Jul 10, 2013)

obermd said:


> Radar detectors are legal anywhere in the US - Federal Communications Act explicitly allows individuals to own any RF receiver for any band that is NOT restricted to government uses.


Apparently not legal in Virginia LIS > Code of Virginia > 46.2-1079 I didn't check it too much further, but they're not legal in D.C. either. I had thought NY had some obscure law regarding radar detectors being illegal when used to "break the law", but I couldn't find anything. They are illegal nationwide when used in commercial vehicles.


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## ErikBEggs (Aug 20, 2011)

I looked into it and was surprised. Radar detection actually is legal in every state except Virginia. I was shocked! I thought for sure Nazi York had some law since they have a law for everything.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

ErikBEggs said:


> In NY you are safe on the NYS Thruway going 10-12 over. However, they patrol our urban highways (55 mph) much much tighter. They patrol them so tight now the town police are patrolling them to make money.. smh


Believe it or not, most state police would rather see higher legal speeds on the rural interstate system so they can spend their time focusing on secondary roads which tend to have much higher accident rates. This was the argument the Colorado State Patrol used when pushing to raise the rural interstate limit to 75. They wanted to spend their time on the two lane roads for safety.


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## ErikBEggs (Aug 20, 2011)

obermd said:


> Believe it or not, most state police would rather see higher legal speeds on the rural interstate system so they can spend their time focusing on secondary roads which tend to have much higher accident rates. This was the argument the Colorado State Patrol used when pushing to raise the rural interstate limit to 75. They wanted to spend their time on the two lane roads for safety.


I don't support it at all. Then again, I took courses on how those speed limits were determined. I'll just say I feel more comfortable driving in NY or Pennsylvania where the truckers obey the 65 mph and usually go 60-65 mph than go to other states (Ohio most recently) where the speed limit is 70 and those assholes were driving 75 mph. No way, Jose.


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## airbornedave (Jan 26, 2013)

obermd said:


> Believe it or not, most state police would rather see higher legal speeds on the rural interstate system so they can spend their time focusing on secondary roads which tend to have much higher accident rates. This was the argument the Colorado State Patrol used when pushing to raise the rural interstate limit to 75. They wanted to spend their time on the two lane roads for safety.


I don't see how they think that raising the speed limit on the interstates will reduce their workload on the interstate. Everyone knows that there is a certain threshold of speed over the limit that an LEO won't waste his time to make a stop for (from my experience, generally up to 10 over). With that said, no matter what the limit is set to, I would imagine that the same percentage of drivers maintaining that threshold now will continue to do so and the same percentage of speeders will continue to speed. 

Just my $0.02


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## ErikBEggs (Aug 20, 2011)

airbornedave said:


> I don't see how they think that raising the speed limit on the interstates will reduce their workload on the interstate. Everyone knows that there is a certain threshold of speed over the limit that an LEO won't waste his time to make a stop for (from my experience, generally up to 10 over). With that said, no matter what the limit is set to, I would imagine that the same percentage of drivers maintaining that threshold now will continue to do so and the same percentage of speeders will continue to speed.
> 
> Just my $0.02


Actually they did studies that prove the opposite. People are most comfortable driving 65-75 mph on the interstate believe it or not. People who drive faster than 75 mph are in the minority. It has been proven in states such as Texas that when the speed limit is raised to 80 or 85 mph there is no change in average free flow speed. People flat out don't feel comfortable driving faster than 75.


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## H3LLON3ARTH (Dec 16, 2011)

ErikBEggs said:


> Actually they did studies that prove the opposite. People are most comfortable driving 65-75 mph on the interstate believe it or not. People who drive faster than 75 mph are in the minority. It has been proven in states such as Texas that when the speed limit is raised to 80 or 85 mph there is no change in average free flow speed. People flat out don't feel comfortable driving faster than 75.


Yea I drove ob tha stretch of road not too many people were going 80 lol most the people were doing 75.

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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

When Colorado raised the rural interstate limit from 65 to 75 the speed range (slowest to fastest) halved. Most of the people driving in excess of 80 slowed down to 75-80 and the slowest cars, which were doing about 60 either got off the interstate or sped up to 65 or so. A smaller speed range makes the road a lot safer.


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## airbornedave (Jan 26, 2013)

ErikBEggs said:


> Actually they did studies that prove the opposite. People are most comfortable driving 65-75 mph on the interstate believe it or not. People who drive faster than 75 mph are in the minority. It has been proven in states such as Texas that when the speed limit is raised to 80 or 85 mph there is no change in average free flow speed. People flat out don't feel comfortable driving faster than 75.





obermd said:


> When Colorado raised the rural interstate limit from 65 to 75 the speed range (slowest to fastest) halved. Most of the people driving in excess of 80 slowed down to 75-80 and the slowest cars, which were doing about 60 either got off the interstate or sped up to 65 or so. A smaller speed range makes the road a lot safer.


Very interesting. You learn something new every day!


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## ErikBEggs (Aug 20, 2011)

obermd said:


> When Colorado raised the rural interstate limit from 65 to 75 the speed range (slowest to fastest) halved. Most of the people driving in excess of 80 slowed down to 75-80 and the slowest cars, which were doing about 60 either got off the interstate or sped up to 65 or so. A smaller speed range makes the road a lot safer.


'Cept truckers don't give a **** they are there to make money. 75 mph means play time for them.. Cha-ching!


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

I'd rather drive on a road full of big trucks. Physics ensures trucks are far more predictable than cars.


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## H3LLON3ARTH (Dec 16, 2011)

obermd said:


> I'd rather drive on a road full of big trucks. Physics ensures trucks are far more predictable than cars.


Unless there strung out on meth thank goodness they drug test nowadays.

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## giantsnation (Oct 11, 2012)

****, remember when speedometers only went to like 85mph. I had a '92 ranger which I had to keep pegged on 85 just to keep up (obviously the gauge was off a bit) but its just funny. 

A lot of what you guys are saying is true and has a lot to do with the feel of modern cars. For most cars, you can do 70mph and not feel any difference between that and 50mph. So people can comfortable do 75mph. I think after 80mph, there is a sense of a) wow, I'm flying by everyone and b) handling and steering feel changes towards dangerous.


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## airbornedave (Jan 26, 2013)

obermd said:


> I'd rather drive on a road full of big trucks. Physics ensures trucks are far more predictable than cars.


Amen! 

As a truck driver, I firmly believe that trucks aren't as dangerous as they are made out to be and that truckers as a whole get a bad rap. From my experience, inconsiderate small vehicle drivers make trucks dangerous by driving in blind spots, slamming on brakes in front us, and cutting us off. People fail to forget that we don't maneuver as well and can't stop on a dime. On the other hand, there are idiot truckers out there, just the same as with auto drivers. 

Driving a truck has forever changed the way I drive my personal vehicle, not only around big trucks but also around fellow drivers.


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## giantsnation (Oct 11, 2012)

Truck drivers can't stop on a dime is right - Four children among 7 killed when SUV is crushed between big rigs - CNN.com.


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## buellfooll (Jul 7, 2011)

What the hey! I'll put my .02 cents in too. As a retired over the road truck driver and having been a radar tech in the USAF (in a prior life) I think I can add to this discussion. First. RADAR, ALL kinds of radar use RF (radio frequency) energy to do their job. A pulse of RF energy will be transmitted and received back and the time and frequency measured. The time measurement will tell the machine the DISTANCE from the radar the target is. The FREQUENCY of the returned pulse is compared to the transmitted pulse and because of the DOPPLER (Google it) effect the difference in the two frequencies the speed can be computed. Coming OR going. RF energy travels at a speed of 186,000 miles per SECOND. When talking in terms of radar the term RADAR MILE will come up from time to time. A RADAR MILE is actually a measurement of the TIME it takes for a RF signal to be transmitted and then received back. That number is 12.36 MICRO SECONDS. If you think you're fast enough to get your speed legal in less time I want to meet you. Further. If you're at the head of the pack and you're not quick enough guess what. You win a trip through our judicial system. If you're in a group of other traffic you MAY stand a better chance. Just don't be traveling any faster than they are or you'll win again. Most, if not all, traffic radar currently in use is INSTANT ON radar. They aim the gun at a suspected speeder, pull the trigger and less than 12.36 micro (that's MILLIONTH) seconds later they gottcha. RF energy will NOT penetrate a solid material. Concrete, steel, etc. Thin vegetation will degrade the energy but generally not stop it.Granted, they can't get every speeder. Just like when you go fishing you can't catch all the fish. Just the ones that are flaunting it. During my time on the road I've learned a few tricks that may, or may not, work to prevent you from becoming an obvious speeder. 1st. Don't speed. My rule of thumb is 10% over the limit. Maybe 15% if traffic is light. 2nd. If you are speeding NEVER, I said NEVER slam on the brakes and/or jerk your car back into the right lane. That tells the cop that you know you were speeding. Take your foot off the gas and just slow down normally. The cop probably already has you in his sights but the two fore mentioned actions just add proof to the pudding. 3rd. Stay in the right lane and use the left lanes for passing ONLY. That's why they call it the "passing lane". The cop is going to pay more attention to those lanes than the grandpa lane. 4th. This is a big one. I've avoided more tickets by having a clean license than anything else because most cops don't want to be the guy that ruined a perfect driving record and might issue an equipment violation or some other non point offense. I've had cops say "out of professional courtesy you're good to go". If you do get stopped be polite, respectful and don't offer excuses unless you're wife is having a baby on the back seat. Believe it or not MOST cops are descent people. They don't want to ruin your day any more than you want it to be ruined. 

Lastly. I don't know about you but I hate having to pay what seems like the national debt to insurance companies. OK! OK!! I'm an old man. But I wasn't always an old man. Insurance companies also like sensible drivers. I participated in the Progressive Ins. "Snap Shot" program and received a 30% reduction in my yearly premium. That amounts to more than $300 per year. And all they looked at was the time of day you were using the car, the miles driven and how hard you applied the brakes to stop the vehicle. Very interesting stuff.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

While I agree with you that there is no way you can slow down fast enough once you've been tagged, good radar detectors will detect the outer cone of a beam being aimed at a car up to a mile in front of you. This is why anyone using a radar detector should respond to a weak signal by letting off the gas and slowing down without using their brakes. Good radar detectors have the same signal sensitivity as the receiver the police use, which means they can detect signals twice as far away as the radar gun can detect a bounce.


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## EcoDave (Mar 7, 2013)

Yep, Radar detectors are not 100% protection. Just don't speed... 

Unless you have more than 400hp


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## airbornedave (Jan 26, 2013)

EcoDave said:


> Yep, Radar detectors are not 100% protection. Just don't speed...
> 
> Unless you have more than 400hp


Even 400hp won't outrun the radio.


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## Nophix (Aug 24, 2013)

airbornedave said:


> Amen!
> 
> As a truck driver, I firmly believe that trucks aren't as dangerous as they are made out to be and that truckers as a whole get a bad rap. From my experience, inconsiderate small vehicle drivers make trucks dangerous by driving in blind spots, slamming on brakes in front us, and cutting us off. People fail to forget that we don't maneuver as well and can't stop on a dime. On the other hand, there are idiot truckers out there, just the same as with auto drivers.
> 
> Driving a truck has forever changed the way I drive my personal vehicle, not only around big trucks but also around fellow drivers.


Amen brotha trucka! 

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## CanaryGT (Aug 12, 2013)

Yeah my car has over 400 HP..... didnt help... lol


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## Nophix (Aug 24, 2013)

The car sitting in the garage is over 400hp, and the motorcycle next to it lays down 140. I still can't outrun the dang Motorola.

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## ErikBEggs (Aug 20, 2011)

I'm in Florida for work.

The speed limit here is 70 mph I've been on I-4 all day. As mentioned before, cars are all driving between 65 and 75 mph, with the occasional 80 mph nutjob. However, these truckers need to SLOW DOWN!!! The truckers are going as fast as the fastest cars.. 80 mph. As I said before, they would be tried and found guilty in NY for driving this fast. I never see em go faster than the speed limit back home.


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