Ok,
In your opinion who do you people think make the best performing radars. Take into consideration price, options on the radar, and most of all performance. I hear V1 is supposed to be bada$$....but what do you guys think.....especially those who don't have a V1.

 

I have one so I guess I can't comment!

 

I ordered a Solo 2 from Escort. Didn't want to hard wire anything or deal with the fuse box. It's on the way. Hope it's decent enough to keep me forewarned when necessary.

 

Passport 8500! I love mine even for city use. Valentine1 is good also. Can go wrong with either one.

 

So the Passport 8500 works well in Austin driving, ScottC? Mainly going down 183 then I35. I should have my 350 from Southpoint in about 2 months.

 

Passport 8500. Period.

And don't listen to the folks praising V1. They do it just to justify for themselfs spending extra money for inferior product. They regret like those guys who paid big money to get 330Ci, or TT and now left in dust by the Z.

They based they desicion on 10y.o. fame and rumors and regret it now. They'll even show you some biased tests showing V1 is better. But all unbiased tests gave 8500 first place. It has better K and Ka sensitivity, beter over-the-hill sensitivity, more informative display, more options, better design, less weight, etc etc

(putting my flame suit on... )

 

Thanks for the reply's guys, How much is the passport 8500? if you don't mind me asking.

 

vlad, vlad, vlad....So now you have resorted to premptive strikes against we who would claim the V-1 superior?

Sorry, but it was the 8500 test that was flawed and you know it. It was sponsored by a certain radar company (who makes a unit I won't mention). The Car and Driver test (which I would put far more weight on) clearly showed which detector was the best. It (the C&D test) was done with units purchased "over the counter" and therefore prevented the chance of a company slipping in a "ringer" which has been done before in these comparisons.

Smooth, the 8500 is an excellent detector. The Valentine One is also an excellent detector. The V-1 (in MY opinion) is better because of it's directional arrows which show exactly where the radar is coming from. It also has both front and rear radar AND laser detection. The 8500 lacks directional arrows and cannot claim both front and rear detection of radar AND laser.

The V-1 was A LOT more expensive than the 8500. The V-1 costs $400. The 8500 is at least $150-200 less. It's all up to you as to how much you want to spend. You really couldn't go wrong with either one though.

 

Here is the link for the C&D test:

Car and Driver Radar Detector Test

Also vlad: Here is the test that YOU YOURSELF posted in another thread. The ONLY test the 8500 beat the V-1 in , in this test was the over the hill K and Ka test. The V-1 beat the 8500 in all the other tests.



Speed Zones test

 

i have had the Passport solo 2 for over a year and it has saved my *** alot. Not having to hard wire anything is great it last me a bout 30 to 90 days on one set of batt(2aa). And I love the fact i can put it any where in the car. or even in my Maxima for trips and it was only around $250!!! it as saved me a lot mor that that in fines

 

I'm a programmer, so I kind of use to plan ahead (what you called premptive strikes). But this time I was just having fun! By the way, it took you 3 minutes 20 seconds longer than I expected to post answer

What never fails to amaze me is how people ask again and again the same question about which RD is better. Why don't they just read down the topics list?

Oh, can't help to correct you that 8500 of course has rear radar AND laser detection. Long range, of course. It just doesn't have arrows, which is fine with me.

And what about tests - radartest's tests were way more complex and accurate from what I read. As for which one is biased, that's a question without an answer, since nor I neither you have any prove. If somebody offers you $10K to adjust some test results what would you do? Even if you are from C&D? And then, whould you write that you were paid, or rather that test is unbiased, and you bought unit in store? Hope you see my point.

 

That's proves that there are a lot of different tests out there, yes. All results are different as well. Now the question is which one to believe... And if most of test show good over-the-hill range, I kind of accepted that for fact. Michigan doesn't seems to be mountain state, but hills are here all right. And as I mentioned before (https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....9&pagenumber=2 scroll down to my post) I have incredible examples that I made an excellent choise choosing 8500.

 

If you're looking to a detector that is visably hard to detect, the Excort SR1 with laser diffuser is should be your choice. Pricey for sure, but the performance is unequalled [in my opinion]. The sensors are buried in the front grill area and "become" one with the rear license plate.

The SR1 was recalled by the FCC lately for messing up gas station computers and is said to drive ATM's whacky. I heard from my Car Toys technician's that the SR1 actually caused some ATM's to spit out money. I thought it would be a good idea for all SR1 owners to go to the "less fortunate" part of town and treat the folks with a currency Ho, Ho, Ho. [Now don't flame me]

I'm currently adding the new Escort SR7 to my other vehicle as we speak. Going with the new SR7 will be their new laser diffuser [forgot P/N].

My tendency to triple digit fun will be less tense now that I have front and rear eyes along the sometime wide open spaces of America's west.

 

Thanks again guys for such great info.....and drbonz luv your threads on the zaino keep up the good work!

 

so how many times Escort shifter saved your ***? I'm trying to find some real stories, not theory they post on their site.

 

Does anybody else have anything to say about the sr1 or sr7 that he is talking about? How much is it?

 

Is that the one that was like $1400? Also, don't you loose some performance by mounting it at ground level in the grill?

 

That's about right dollar wise and so far I have not noticed any degradation in performance. I'm having the SR-7 installed in my other car right now.

I have installed a totally awesome audio system into my 350Z as well as the radar and GPS system and will provide a link to all of the images when I'm finished. Art Singer, Associate Publisher, was at my house this past weekend and he was stunned by the look and performance. BTW, it's hard to get Art past the "looks nice" appraisal on most anything.

I think you guys who love after-market mods will just flip when you see it. Hopefully I'll be able to put up the link after Christmas.

My tunes are the best I've ever heard and the Kenwood GPS/DVD/TV/CD/Satellite radio is just plain mind boggling. The guys at Car Toys in Littleton, CO followed my instructions perfectly and created a show piece. I can't wait to show y'all.

I was never going to feature my 350Z in Sport Z, but I think I'm about to change my mind. I always felt that Sport Z was for your cars, not ours, I may have to modify that.

Happy Holidays.