Best radar/ laser/ general speeding ticket avoiding tech
07-16-2011, 01:24 PM
#32
6th Gear Member
The V1 is a damned good RD but not THE best. It does shine in many categories but if you look at the test data, the V1 doesn't come out on top in some of those. I don't know which BEL and Escort models are equally good overall, but the info on the GOL website has the test comparisons.
07-16-2011, 02:15 PM
#34
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Ohio
Posts: 16
For the first 14 years I was driving, I averaged a speeding ticket every 1.5 to 2 years. In the last 11 years I've been driving, I've had one ticket, and that was because of speedometer error due partly to oversized tires. Had I been going the speed I thought I was, I wouldn't have been pulled over. Four out of the 20 cars I've owned have been Mustangs, but about half of my tickets were in my first two Mustangs (none in my last two).
I've had four detectors in the last 20 years or so, including a Valentine1, I still have a cheap one (Uniden I think), but had one stolen out of my car, and sold the other two (including the V1). The V1 was the best I've ever used, but it wasn't worth the money and trouble to me, and I've only used a detector a handful of times in the last ten years. For me situational awareness trumps any detector. I still speed frequently, but try to do it with full awareness of my surroundings and traffic around me, and I don't have any trouble. Cops in Ohio only used fully marked cars for traffic enforcement, so that helps a little, but since laser is their preferred weapon of choice around here, all a detector is going to do is tell you that you're getting a ticket. I've been nailed for speeding while using a detector with both laser and instant-on radar (no other cars around), I knew right away I got nailed, but by then it was too late.
07-16-2011, 02:42 PM
#35
S197 Section Modder-ator
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Orlando FL
Posts: 13,373
That's why I don't invest in those...
Lots of money spent to tell you you're about to get pulled over.
Everytime I see someone pulled over on I95, I can see a detector in the car...
Yeah, that helped a lot! lol.
Unless you have a rabbit in front of you or there is some kind of traffic, you have a chance.
But if you're by yourself on a nice day (which are the best conditions to speed), they'll get you everytime.
Now a jammer in addition to the radar detector would be the trick but it's against the law.
Lots of money spent to tell you you're about to get pulled over.
Everytime I see someone pulled over on I95, I can see a detector in the car...
Yeah, that helped a lot! lol.
Unless you have a rabbit in front of you or there is some kind of traffic, you have a chance.
But if you're by yourself on a nice day (which are the best conditions to speed), they'll get you everytime.
Now a jammer in addition to the radar detector would be the trick but it's against the law.
07-16-2011, 04:40 PM
#36
Cut & Paste Expert
Join Date: May 2007
Location: NW Arkansas
Posts: 13,322
They dont hide around here.
They be sure and park where everyone can see them radaring.
If you keep an eye out for them 100%, you can spot them 100%
before they spot you (the front ends stick out with
the reflective badging on the vehicles).
Drive while in another world and speed and they will get you
before you see them...
They be sure and park where everyone can see them radaring.
If you keep an eye out for them 100%, you can spot them 100%
before they spot you (the front ends stick out with
the reflective badging on the vehicles).
Drive while in another world and speed and they will get you
before you see them...
07-16-2011, 09:34 PM
#37
I got a ticket 4 days after buying my fox. The only cars on the road were myself and iowa state patrol. Thats the first in a few years, I'm getting better.
I used to speed everywhere and got a lot of tickets until I put my first born in my car kinda changed my views on it. Any way these detectors and jammers probably cost more then what I paid for all my tickets I've gotten!
is it really worth it?
I used to speed everywhere and got a lot of tickets until I put my first born in my car kinda changed my views on it. Any way these detectors and jammers probably cost more then what I paid for all my tickets I've gotten!
is it really worth it?
07-16-2011, 10:08 PM
#38
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Indiana
Posts: 1,717
My other car is a city owned Crown Vic, so I'll chime in. It's not really gonna help at all no matter what kinda detector you are running.
Most officers are going to eyeball traffic and leave the radar off until they see someone who is obviously speeding. Once they see someone who is moving pretty good they will turn on the radar and get the speed. At that point your done. Unless you drive through Mayberry, you are not going to find a cop in 2011 that sits on the side of the road with a radar on clocking every car that goes by.
That said, I have written 10 speeding tickets in 7 years. Those 10 guys probably should have went to jail. Speeding is just way down on my list of things that people need to be cited for. I have stopped hundreds of people for speeding, but if they are polite I just remind them of the limit and send them down the road.
BTW, the reason I bought a Mustang over a Camaro is the first hand experience I have had with the 4.6 V8 over my career. You just can't hurt this engine. We have over 200 in our fleet and I have never heard of a catastropic engine failure. Sure they need maintenance, but they run forever.
On another note we had a 30 minute pursuit with a Mustang GT last month and that scared the crap out of me, the Mustang went into a ditch and lost his front wheel. It was stolen from the local dealership 10 minutes before the pursuit, and my wife and I looked at it a few weeks before I bought my GT. He never got out over 80 while I was involved (all city at 4:30pm) but once he got in the county I know it was over 120mph for a while. I had him once but the stop stick string got wrapped around my hand (that will burn) I tossed them short. It was the 3rd time I tried to throw them on him, so they were a tangled mess in my back seat.... http://www.courierpress.com/news/201...2a0xchase-brf/
Most officers are going to eyeball traffic and leave the radar off until they see someone who is obviously speeding. Once they see someone who is moving pretty good they will turn on the radar and get the speed. At that point your done. Unless you drive through Mayberry, you are not going to find a cop in 2011 that sits on the side of the road with a radar on clocking every car that goes by.
That said, I have written 10 speeding tickets in 7 years. Those 10 guys probably should have went to jail. Speeding is just way down on my list of things that people need to be cited for. I have stopped hundreds of people for speeding, but if they are polite I just remind them of the limit and send them down the road.
BTW, the reason I bought a Mustang over a Camaro is the first hand experience I have had with the 4.6 V8 over my career. You just can't hurt this engine. We have over 200 in our fleet and I have never heard of a catastropic engine failure. Sure they need maintenance, but they run forever.
On another note we had a 30 minute pursuit with a Mustang GT last month and that scared the crap out of me, the Mustang went into a ditch and lost his front wheel. It was stolen from the local dealership 10 minutes before the pursuit, and my wife and I looked at it a few weeks before I bought my GT. He never got out over 80 while I was involved (all city at 4:30pm) but once he got in the county I know it was over 120mph for a while. I had him once but the stop stick string got wrapped around my hand (that will burn) I tossed them short. It was the 3rd time I tried to throw them on him, so they were a tangled mess in my back seat.... http://www.courierpress.com/news/201...2a0xchase-brf/
You sound like a good cop (great in fact), but admit it- your characteristics are not all that common in Indiana lol. At least, where I live the police are extremely pompous and seem to think anyone that is younger with a half decent car deserves a ticket.
All that said (sorry for rant), I have the v1 and had an old cobra before it and I'll say the cobra was good for a few years then got really outdated and inconsistent. The v1 however is going strong.
07-16-2011, 11:17 PM
#39
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Gallifrey
Posts: 1,596
I am of the same mind as previously mentioned, in many cases it's just going to be a 3 second warning before the lights go on and you're pulled over anyhow.
But assuming you do get some advanced warning from a reflected signal, or you can hit the brakes quick enough to bring you under the "bust me" limit and this helps you to stay out of 2 in a year, that will usually pay for itself between the ticket itself and the insurance cost raise even if they are just minor tickets.
If I thought having one wouldn't up my lead-foot in places I'd get one again. It would very likely pay for itself in a reasonable amount of time, if it can be used as a true extension, and not an relied on appliance to try and go faster more often.
Last edited by wayne613; 07-16-2011 at 11:25 PM.
07-17-2011, 12:21 AM
#40
