Learn me radar detectors

I'm looking to purchase locally a radar detector. Any suggestions on what makes a good detector?
I've never owned one before. I inherited one from my most recent parts car, but it is a POS from who knows where with no brand name on it.

More than any radar detector I would look for the book How to drive fast and avoid Tickets by Matt Reynolds if I remember the title and author correctly. It is dated in some ways and long out of print but has the most comprehensive and best advice I have ever found on the subject of reasonable driving at extra legal speeds while avoiding and minimizing contact/conflict with the law. It has a chapter and discussion on radar detectors but is outdated there. Try Radarbusters, Guys of radar guys of Lidar and look at real world testing and reviews. I have had several and still believe the Valentine One is the current best and has been for awhile. However Escort makes some very good ones as does Bel.

If you have an android or iPhone, get Trapster and affix it to your dash. Of corse it takes users to give info, but it can let you know regular points for police to sit, red light cams, and live updates. Works pretty well in StL. Dont bother with the radar detector. Most cops are using lasers and they don't work the same as radar. They are trigger controlled so it cant be detected until the officer already has your speed.

This will boil down to two camps
One will say that a Valentine 1 is the best and the only way to go. The other will recommend the high end Bell/Cobra/others stating that they are as good as a V1 but priced cheaper. I think they are both right.
Personally, two V1's in my household.

At the very core, a radar detector is a tool. Not the only tool but one that I like to have in my toolbox. My most recent ticket came from an airplane and aint nothing detects that other than situational awareness - the best defense.

Valentine. Totally happy for years - I have two.

I have NOT tried anything else.

Until there's another radar detector with arrows to tell you where the bad guys are and how many of them are there, there simply isn't a substitute for the V1.

Bad guys? Come on man, they are out there trying to keep things safe for the rest of us, show a little respect.

I like cops... I work with cops... I get tickets from cops...

When I don't wanna ticket they are the "bad guys" in a not so bad way.

Uncoiled wrote: Bad guys? Come on man, they are out there trying to keep things safe for the rest of us, show a little respect.

Bad guys! I call 'em as I see it.

I see very few out there just "trying to keep things safe for the rest of us". They are hiding over hill crests just after speed limit changes. The cities have shortened the yellow lights to up the ticket count and they station cops there 8-10 hours a day.

If they wanted to slow people down they'd be visible as the law requires in most states.

Instead they have a spotter on a bridge overpass how lasers the cars and then radios it to the fleet of 12teen motorcycle cops and 4 cop cars sitting at the top of the freeway entrance.

No, the vast majority are bad guys.

Valentine One. Accept no other. Available mail order only.

Not "bad guys." "Thugs with guns, laying in ambush and waiting to take your money at gunpoint."

Uncoiled wrote: Bad guys? Come on man, they are out there trying to keep things safe for the rest of us, show a little respect.

Do some research about things like speed camera's and there effect on speeding/accidents.

There are bad cops just like there are bad mechanics, bad waiters, and bad teachers, just like in every walk of life, they are just people, but who do you call if someone breaks in your house, robs you, or steals your car, they do more then just give out tickets. Plus if you obey the law they have nothing to ticket you for...

Shell out for a Valentine1 and never have to think about it again. As a bonus, the arrows are brilliant and once you use them, you'll never be able to imagine a detector without them.

A half-assed radar detector is much worse than none at all.

Just understand that when the laser detector goes off, you've already been hit. The detector just gives you a little extra time to start working on your excuses.

And, you will grow to despise Infiniti SUVs.

I had not had the Infiniti experience but the brake lights of a GMC Envoy drives my V1 crazy.

jrw1621 wrote: I had not had the Infiniti experience but the brake lights of a GMC Envoy drives my V1 crazy.

Yup. Trailblazers, too.

Woody wrote: Shell out for a Valentine1 and never have to think about it again. As a bonus, the arrows are brilliant and once you use them, you'll never be able to imagine a detector without them. A half-assed radar detector is much worse than none at all. Just understand that when the laser detector goes off, you've already been hit. The detector just gives you a little extra time to start working on your excuses. And, you will grow to despise Infiniti SUVs.

This isn't entirely true. The laser signal still bounces around "a bit" but no where near to the same extent as a radar. I've had my laser detector go off while I was speeding and managed to slow down in time simply because the cop lazed the car in front of me first.

Truth be told though the only time I have gotten a ticket since getting a detector was due to laser. I'm just saying they're not as useless as people make them seem.

Personally, I don't blame the individual cops for the fact that they are glorified tax collectors. Those decisions are made far above the level of the average traffic cop, he's just doing what he's told. But I do 100% believe that speed limits are set artificially low to raise revenue.

I have a couple-year-old Bel 940 in my truck. Several times I've considered a V1, but just couldn't pull that $400 trigger when my $120 Bel gets me probably 80% of the protection at less than 30% of the cost. I don't speed all that much anymore, anyhow. I've also never understood the big advantage of the arrows. You get a warning, you slow down. Does it really matter where it's coming from?

Flame on. I've had this discussion with V1 enthusiasts before, and I know how it's going to go.

Tom_Spangler wrote: Personally, I don't blame the individual cops for the fact that they are glorified tax collectors. Those decisions are made far above the level of the average traffic cop, he's just doing what he's told. But I do 100% believe that speed limits are set artificially low to raise revenue.

They become cops because they want the power and then they enjoy it way to much for me to lay the blame above their heads. You do the job you do because you want to.

Most cops I know give out about 20 tickets a month. I don't think that's so awful. Even my friend who is a traffic cop gives out an average of 15 a day and his job is to enforce traffic. 12+ on city streets and 15+ on highways. If you're doing 75 in a 60, are you really going to wine about a ticket? He sits on the side of the road and picks cars off at 2000 yards as they go over hills. Should that be against the rules because you can't see him?

Maybe the cops are worse where you are.

carguy123 wrote:

Tom_Spangler wrote: Personally, I don't blame the individual cops for the fact that they are glorified tax collectors. Those decisions are made far above the level of the average traffic cop, he's just doing what he's told. But I do 100% believe that speed limits are set artificially low to raise revenue.

They become cops because they want the power and then they enjoy it way to much for me to lay the blame above their heads. You do the job you do because you want to.

That's a very broad and, in my opinion, unfair generalization. Not denying that some cops do it for the power, but I think there are plenty who do it because that's what their dad did, an interest in criminal justice, because they grew up watching "Law and Order", or just because they want to do something good for society. I haven't had a ton of interaction with police in my life, but most of the ones I've dealt with have been solid pros who are just doing a very difficult and dangerous job that doesn't pay very well. Maybe I'm generalizing, though, too.

Uncoiled wrote: Bad guys? Come on man, they are out there trying to keep things safe for the rest of us, show a little respect.

The ones not being used as income sources are the good guys. The ones with a primary goal of revenue generation are the bad guys.

Doing traffic work doesn't automatically make you one of the latter, but there certainly are plenty of them. I don't blame the cops themselves, I blame the cities, counties, and states that use cops that way, it's bad for everyone involved.

Valentine One or GTFO.

The Trailblazer taillight thing is annoying, but you can send it out to get hacked to lessen the problem.

keethrax wrote: Doing traffic work doesn't automatically make you one of the latter, but there certainly are plenty of them. I don't blame the cops themselves, I blame the cities, counties, and states that use cops that way, it's bad for *everyone* involved.

What are you blaming for? Bad cops or traffic cops? Can you imagine how dangerous the roads would be if there were no traffic cops? Around The Lou there are constantly things to respond to, so the traffic squad is the only group running traffic sometimes.

Tom_Spangler wrote: Personally, I don't blame the individual cops for the fact that they are glorified tax collectors. Those decisions are made far above the level of the average traffic cop, he's just doing what he's told. But I do 100% believe that speed limits are set artificially low to raise revenue.

+1 on that!

Around here the MTO Highway Engineers will even openly tell you that the highways are designed for travel at 20 km/h above the posted limit. Our multi-lane highways were design for travel at 120 km/h (75 mph) back when cars weighed 2 1/2 tons had drum brakes and pushing the brake pedal was just a request! Our speed limits are set at 100 km/h (62 mph). This is purely revenue driven.

They should be set at 85th percentile which would be about 20 km/h faster.

Osterkraut wrote: Valentine One or GTFO. The Trailblazer taillight thing is annoying, but you can send it out to get hacked to lessen the problem.

Hacking info please!

+eleventy bajillion for getting the V1. For an extra $40 (per car) get the remote mount too. Lets you tuck most of the unit up behind your rear-view mirror and nobody can see the lights from behind. I have two remote mounts hard wired and switch the main unit between the cars.