V1 over the 8500 only cuz of the directionals, i never owned a V1 but driven plenty of friends cars who have them installed and they work just awesome…
actually i remember when i was in joey k20’s civic he has a remote indicator for his V1, its kinda cool !
i had two 8500’s in the past, fuckin great detectors, but they both went into “service soon” or some shit which sucks… never was the same after that…
so i suggest V1 cuz i hear about the 8500’s getting a service required message alot… and it happened to me on my red and blue one… but i left them in the dead sun under my windshield plenty of times, maybe thats why
I’ve had my 8500 x50 for 3+ years and it works great. To me it’s all about range in the Ka band (only band that matters besides laser), and I believe the 8500 is better than the V1 (very close) and STi in that category.
The V1 is by far deffinatly the most popular… everyone knows what it is. Everyone who I ask what they like about the V1 over other radar detectors is the arrows. Personaly I think its great but it doesnt matter if the arrows facing forward or backward if you hear it go off you shouldent be speeding.
The arrows are more of a novelty WOW factor imo…
The 8500 has been shown to pick up a bit further/faster on the KA band than the V1 but its more basic looking that the v1…
You can get an 8500 off ebay for around 100-150 bucks
I would get the 8500 or 9500i. I’m going to look into the 9500i.
I drove with a V1 to VA (removed it when I hit VA obviously) and it does beep for EVERY stupid thing. I found myself ‘muting’ it (push the button and it cuts the volume by 90%) quite a bit.
The STi is designed for people in VA and DC since it’s undetectable. The V1 is a lot like the iPhone to me when it comes to radars. People are just ‘fans’ because it’s popular with everyone else. It’s not a bad radar, but it’s not the best. If anything, the top 3 are pretty equal. Each offer their own pro’s and con’s and balance each other out.
Well, that little radar detector test you posted seemed very biased to me.
Also, when you say the V1 went off for “EVERY stupid thing” you probably had an old software/model. My V1 has X band turned off and very rarely picks up anything that isn’t Police.
It beeps for everything because it has the longest range of any detector on the market. The new ones dont false as much. The V1 is the best plug and play detector on the market.
That’s true, almost every review on radar detectors are biased it seems. I say buy 2 or 3 brands and run them side-by-side for ~2 months and than sell the one you don’t like.
It wasn’t my detector, so I don’t know which version it was. I borrowed it from a friend, which is also why I removed it when I hit VA. I didn’t feel like paying him money if it got taken away lol.
The guy has charts on his site. I’d be hard pressed to believe that he just manufactured them out of thin air. If he was really trying to make the Escort better…it would have scored higher marks on the tests than it did (chart wise). It’s pretty damn close. But I think the GPS feature and less false alarms makes it > than the V1. Mind you I thought the STi was better than both up until an hour ago. But that’s just me. I tend to believe what I read. That’s how I roll. I’ve used the V1 and I’m going to try (eventually) the 9500i I think.
Still stand by that statement. I think either one would save your ass plenty.
Escort Passport 9500ix
Best radar detector I’ve used. It has GPS in it so say you go by a location that shows K band several times in the same GPS coordinates, it will automatically remember said location so it won’t go off again. It also is updateable with locations people around the country have marked as speed traps or speed cameras. It’s saved my ass several times, but I have also gotten a ticket when I was doing 80 down I90 and a cop didn’t have radar and was pacing me. I couldn’t see him, then all of the sudden BAM. He told me exactly what he did. Luckily I got out of the ticket, but it happens. Even with the best detector in the world, you still need to be careful in certain areas. As radar technology evolves, so do the tactics they use to catch speeders.
Agreed, to many people see radar detectors as an impenetrable force that will keep them from ever getting a ticket. Many fail to relaize that cops are trained to Pace cars, use stopwatches etc… I know someone whos gotten pulled over when his radar detector dident go off but a cop was using a stop watch and determing the speed based on time taken to get between 2 points.
It will hold up in court, althought it can be a fine line at times as there can be user error.
Anyways that and Laser detection everyone loves to think that oh I cant get pinned I have laser detection. Yeah well laser detects only tells you that your fucked. A laser doesnt emit a damn thing untill the cop has your car lined up and pulls the trigger, by that time your fucked
I agree with Cossey and you though. You still have to be smart on the road and use your own judgment. I dunno about you guys, but even though I look like I’m completely relaxed behind the wheel and just chillin, I am CONSTANTLY scanning my surroundings (not just in front of me but to the sides and rear) of what’s going around me, what’s parked around me, who’s where, etc. My eyes are NEVER locked in one spot for more than 5 seconds.
I contribute that to having taken many defensive driving classes when I was younger (like 17). I had to take 2 due to court order (part of my plea agreement when I ran from the popo), took 1 on my own, and then took another one last summer to get rid of 2 points. You learn how to drive better and use your head.