good but cheap radar detector for my MCS???

[flav]

maybe this was posted before but ehhh. can anybody recommend a good cheaper radar detector. i know the more expensive the better, and you buy a cheap radar you run a higher risk of a ticket. i just want someting to cut down my chances of getting a ticket thats all. how is cobra or whistler. thanks.

[dmanmulder]

Save your money and just be careful. I just recently got a speeding ticket in my MINI and I have done research on radar detectors because of it. For starters there are several different frequencies that police can use, and a detector (especially a cheap one) can’t sense all of them.

Also, some police radar have a switch that only generates a signal when they see you approaching, in which case nothing is being transmitted and your detector has nothing to detect.

Then you have LIDAR, which is used by some pigs (I mean cops). This uses laser light to track your speed, thus there is again no signal for your detector to detect.

And finally, even if you have a detector and do detect a signal, you may already be too late because newer radar guns transmit a signal at very low power and by the time you detect it you are basically caught.

I say just keep an eye out for cops and don’t speed past underpasses or in areas where cops are likely to hide. If you buy a radar detector and end up getting caught speeding anyway what’s the point? …And trust me, once you get nailed once you will slow down and be more careful in the future.

[jwardell]

The cheap ones have false signals so much you learn to ignore them, and before you know it you are worse off than before and wasted all your money. Drive smart and save up. Then go for a Escort 8500, Bel rx65, or Valentine 1.

[rentagas]

radar detectors are almost useless
laser detectors are almost useless because they detect the fact that you are being scanned-too late
if the nice policeman is "doing" the car in front you may get laser scatter so the detector would work probably
GPS based systems are good for fixed cameras/specs etc shich usually use induction and are therefore undetectable
the real problem is mobile laser scanners and the only defence against these is a laser diffusor-but you could be charged with obstruction etc, there was a case of this but I don't know the outcome
a decent gps and laser radar detctor and diffusor will cost around £800 including fitting and is not cast iron protection (not sure where the diffusors would go on a mini). A "colleague of mine" has a snooper s6R with snooper 920 diffusors priced as above and these seem to work
Clearly an option is just to go slow-but this is not the nissan micra forum so we'll ignore this option

[rentagas]

sorry, I realise this is a US thread and my comments are uk only
in the uk 40% of the motoring population have had a speeding (tax) ticket in the last few years-oh and we pay a bit more than $2 per gallon. Camera detctors are big business
I'd be happy to pay much more to persuade the Gumbys to use public transport and leave the roads to those of us who want more than just a car to get from a to b

[GregF]

Do a search on PNI Sensoro on google. Their detectors have tested fairly well overall. You can get them cheap at Costco. I got the Traveller II for about $89 a year ago. Now they carry a newer version that is silver.

[9000RPMan]

I have been a user of Escort Radar products for many years (initially when they were called Cincinnatti Microvave). I currently have a Solo S2 and think its the best combination of sensitivity, quality, design and convieience. As it is battery powered, and comes with the winshield suction cups that attach to a little clip, it is easy to remove the detector (leaving the suction cups mounted on the windshield) and put the detector in the glove box. A radar detector seen from the outside is a very tempting target. The quality of the unit is second to none. The different alerts and frequency of the alert, depending on how close the radar is, enable you to determine where the radar is without taking your eyes off the road. Its not cheap, ist $329, but it had paid for itself over and over and over!

[Johnny225]

I have V1, and I have been saved quite a few times. It's really a great detector, although its the priciest.

[CalPauly]

Radar detectors are not useless, and if you think they are... well, you're either completely ignorant of the facts, you've been using a crappy detector, or both. They're illegal in DC and Virginia, and for good reason--they work.

They work on long trips--I just got back from a drive to North Carolina, and caught at least 10 speedtraps with my Valentine 1. On a prior trip to Michigan, the V1 kept me out of at least a half-dozen tix. They also work well around town--on local roads and highways, you encounter many police/troopers, but they are rarely doing "instant-on" traps, rather leaving their detectors on all the time. Being able to "see" a cruiser around a corner, long-curve or over a hill has kept me out of plenty of tickets; nice to be able to laugh at the guy who gets pulled over after thinking he's gotten the better of you in a street race.

Detectors work. Are they 100%? Absolutely not. But it's absolutely better than slowing down every time you go to crest a hill.

[dmanmulder]

Detectors are not 100% like you said, so unless you plan to always drive like a jerk they aren't worth a dime. Paying for a ticket and a detector that didn't give advance warning is a double waste of money. If people understood how different radar guns and detectors actually worked, they would never waste their money. You may get lucky a few times with a detector, but if you drive fast and think you won't get nailed, you eventually will.

[JFS]

Quote: Originally Posted by CalPauly

Radar detectors are not useless, and if you think they are... well, you're either completely ignorant of the facts, you've been using a crappy detector, or both. They're illegal in DC and Virginia, and for good reason--they work.
...

Detectors work. Are they 100%? Absolutely not. But it's absolutely better than slowing down every time you go to crest a hill.

Agree 100%!

[jwardell]

Quote: Originally Posted by dmanmulder

Detectors are not 100% like you said, so unless you plan to always drive like a jerk they aren't worth a dime. Paying for a ticket and a detector that didn't give advance warning is a double waste of money. If people understood how different radar guns and detectors actually worked, they would never waste their money. You may get lucky a few times with a detector, but if you drive fast and think you won't get nailed, you eventually will.

It has nothing to do with "driving like a jerk." If you cut in and out of traffic etc., well hopefully one of the idiot SUV drivers will not pay attention and intruduce you to the pavement pancake-style.

But if you drive on highways marked 55mph, and even rush hour traffic does 85, you can't drive scared of a cop at every corner, every overpass. They do appear randomly, then pick whoever they want out of the crowd. I'd rather be the one who knows about them a half mile ahead of the time, and driving slower than the crowd when they are selecting their next victim.

[stryder]

A friend and I were driving in Mass (I can't forget the road, but whatever) and a cop was standing on the side of the road with his gun aimed directly at us. He took his hands off the gun, and waved at us to slow down. Thankfully, he was feeling lazy and didn't get in the car and chase us.

The relevant part? My friend's $100 or whatever detector (it was a name brand, but I can't remember which) never went off the entire time, either before we got to the cop or when he was obviously clocking us. The friend took the detector off the windshield and threw it in the back of the car. A few months later (once he had saved up) he bought a V1, because he'd ridden with mine and seen the insane notice it gives you.

My only problem with the V1 (besides its cost) is that sometimes it has you paranoid, so you'll slow down only to find out it was a stupid traffic sign with radarn (in a mile or two) because states like PA like to do that just to annoy you.

[Johnny225]

THe highway speed here is 65 mph. The flow goes 75-80. Here in the U.S., it's either a) get shot by someone for holding up traffic, or b) get ticketed.
Radar detectors really work here!

[CalPauly]

Quote: Originally Posted by dmanmulder

...unless you plan to always drive like a jerk they aren't worth a dime. Paying for a ticket and a detector that didn't give advance warning is a double waste of money. If people understood how different radar guns and detectors actually worked, they would never waste their money. You may get lucky a few times with a detector, but if you drive fast and think you won't get nailed, you eventually will.

Speeding does not equal driving "like a jerk," and I'd note that if you didn't want to occasionally break the law, then you "wasted" money on an MCS.

I don't speed everywhere, and I know where and when to speed, irrespective of the V1. I do understand how detection works, as I have studied it quite a bit... my father is a 35 year veteran of the Dallas PD, btw... so I have firsthand experience with the other side of the gun. Finall, and not to get nasty, I can tell you that if you haven't made an 800+ mile trip with a Valentine One in your car, and seen the number of speedtraps that it catches, then you just don't know what you're talking about. They catch plenty.