I don't think that radar detectors have been discussed much. I don't know if you guys don't like them or what but in a Lancer Evo, is there a spot where you could place them to hide them away from cops while driving? Do you guys know if they work if if Valentine One is the best?

 

yeah, i heard that valentine one is pretty much your best bet. my friend has one and it seems to be the most accurate out of all the other radars i have seen. costs quite an arm an a leg though at around $400, unless you get one off ebay.

 

I've got a buddy who has the V1 as well and it defintely seems that its worth the money!

 

I have owned virtually ever brand of radar detector available and from my experience the Valentine One is by far the best. You have to get used to it being extremely sensitive, but once you figure it out you can trust it. I bought one for my brother who has a major lead foot and he hasn't been stopped for speeding once since I got it for him almost 3 years ago.
Look around at reviews of it and comparisons in magazines. It always scores much higher than any competition.

 

The V1 is definately the way to go. It's not foolproof, LIDAR and Instant-on will still beat it, but you are still better with the V1 than you are with anything else.

As for mounting it "out of sight", Valentine makes a remote display that turns off the display for the main unit, so it doesn't stand out at night. Of course the box is still there, it's just not as obvious what it is for.

http://www.valentineone.com/home.asp

 

Radar detectors are useless in the land of vascar (PA) I love how my speed is determined by how fast a cop can hit two switches as I pass over two lines.

 

Can you elaborate on this, or send me a link? From what I can infer, your "speed" is determined as much by the officers sight, hand-eye coordination, and reflexes as it is by your actual speed.

 

Yup, exactly how it works. It's a glorified stopwatch

http://travel.3dresearch.com/prep1.html (got my ticket in nearly the same area and went up against the same judge, I won though)
http://www.netspace.net.au/~smack/traffic/vascar.html
http://www.signalsystems.co.za/vascar1.htm
http://www.norman-law.com/page25.html
http://www.radartest.com/BFTPVR.html

 

I can't believe they're using a system from the 60s.

I especially liked the quote in the 3rd link: "The most accurate and versatile system for checking speeding offences and enforcing speed limits under varying conditions"

It dawned on me that when I was about 10, I had a $5 wrist watch with the same feature. And I recall clocking my friends doing 35 on their BMX bikes because I couldn't click the start/stop button reliably... Hmm...

 

Yeah and the funny thing is the cop is always right no matter what. If you did the math on my ticket, I was clocked at 641mph, I got off because it was my first ticket. Being just a tenth of a second off is a huge difference. And they wonder why everyone hates the police

 

The only way this system would work would be over a sufficiently long distance, like 1/4 mile. The reaction time would still create a ±5 mph error, I'd estimate. It's funny that the system is advertised as ±1%, but the officer is probably ±10% (and they don't mention that).

And, unfortunately for the officers who use this system, they get the negative image from the system, when in fact it's the fault of the lawmakers who OK'd the system in the first place. For most police officers, the last thing they want to be doing is writing some poor guy a ticket for 10 over...

We recently had "random seat belt checks" start up around here (I think it's an Indiana law). A group of officers will set up at an intersection, and when the light is red they'll randomly check cars, and any driver who isn't wearing his belt gets a ticket. The people resent it, and the cops get nailed with a bad rap as 'wasting tax dollars to save us from ourselves' but it's really the morons in the capital...

Anyway... buy a V1 and watch out for white lines on the highway!

 

So I should get V1 for the best protection. I just needed to know if it was worth it or not, I guess now I know. WestSideBilly, thanks for telling me about the remote display, but is there a way to hide the main unit better? I heard that you could camouflage it behind stuff and the unit could read through it. I want to find a way to hide the main unit. Any bright ideas from anyone?

 

You can't really hide the main unit too well or it won't work. In my S2000, I have it hardwired to the right of th rear view mirror. It just looks like a black box sitting there. In a traditional sedan, I can't think of a better place, especially since the V1 needs a clear line of sight both front and rear. You could disassemble the unit and integrate some of it into various parts of the car, but this is a lot of work and you're out $400 if it doesn't work.

Take a look here for some inspiration:

http://www.s2ki.com/forums/showthrea...threadid=66179