Looking for help on a radar detector for my F-12?

I would like to use a radar detector in the car but i would prefer something portable. Does anyone have suggestions? I am located in Texas. Thank you for your recommendations.

Mark


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Mark, I have an Escort Passport Max in the FF and a 9500ix in the California. They are both great. They use GPS to remember non-police 'radar' signals that are false after you pass them three times. They can also communicate with your smartphone via Escort Live and the additional cost Smart Cord and give you warnings of police spotted by others further up the road which is extremely useful!

I've had a Valentine detector and sold it after owning it two weeks. They are terrible. They go off at every grocery store and other false radar. They have no GPS to remember those either. They make a big deal about telling you what direction the radar is coming from but that is useless because you ignore most warnings due to door opener radars.

The new Passport Max has a stronger suction mount which will not come down too.

Rick

 

Get the 9500. I've had it in 4 of my cars. It's the absolute best and you can have your installation place install a "kill switch" in case you get pulled over so it can not be detected by police. Let me know if you want photos. High end install is key.

 

+1

 

I had the K40 in my GT2 it was ok at best. I have the 9500ci in my Scud and its Ok also. The one that detected the best is my Valentine 1 that I have in my S6. The V1 is annoying but there is a way to turn off the 2 bands that go off every time you are in a shopping center. The V1 detects quicker than anything else I have tried. And is very easily portable from car to car. It does not block laser only detects it, which is illegal in my state anyway.

 

I agree with Ricks points except to point out the Valentine isn't terrible- its just an older approach. You can program it to be less annoying and it has a system to filter out annoyances at low speeds. I think the Escort/ Passports are 21st Century approaches, and Valentine is very 20th Century. It still has excellent sensitivity and the arrows are helpful in many circumstances. My next one will be Escort / Passport though.

 

I will agree, and should have mentioned the V1 sensitivity is really great. But since it is going off all the time anyway it gets ignored when it shouldn't . I guess I don't need a radar detector, I need a police radar detector.

Rick

 

If you turn off POP and X-Band on the V1, it will rarely false alert. X is not used by police anymore and that's what causes most falses.

 

I've been a decade+ user of V1 and just switched to the Escort (smart radar). I like it a lot, it performs well, but I definitely miss the arrows of the V1. However, with WAZE (very well populated at least in New England) and Escort Live I feel even more covered than with the V1. I run Escort Live in the background and keep WAZE up and running.

 

I have V-1 that are hard wired in all my cars. Program out the x and pop and yet get far fewer falses. You get used to where it falses and only pay attention when it goes off in a new place. The reality of it is that none of them work that well and if you can stand out in traffic you are going to get tickets.

 

The dash units are great for radar, but do nothing for laser other than tell you you're hit, pull over. Jammers are your best defense against laser but definitely not portable.

 

I keep a V1 and a 9500 with me. I use the 9500 in cities. I use the V1 on the open roads.

My CS also has a K40 built in with laser jammer...it was there when I bought it...so, yeah, I got 3 detectors with me at times

(and I don't really drive fast on roads, but I do like to know where they are hiding...)

 

I use a Valentine 1 and it has saved me countless times but you MUST program it to shut down the X and K bands (all real signals are on the Ka band). The manual does not include the programming instructions, but they are on the website.

The smartphone app Waze is a great companion for a radar detector. In addition to giving excellent traffic-sensitive directions, Waze will give you precise warnings as to the location of police reported by other Waze users.

 

I prefer the suction on the Escort. I the battery one is easy to install. I would prefer the valentine but where to put it is a problem with the windshield so far back and the 12v in the center console.

 

If it must be portable then the Escort Max 360 + Waze is by far the best option. If you can install than the Stinger is hands down the best system on the market today. I have a 9500ci in my Speciale, Max 360 + waze in the FF and a Stinger in my Lexus.

 

I use escort max 360 in my f12 and it works well

 

How do you program out the pop and x band?

 

If I went portable like I do in my non Ferrari...valentine One...otherwise..Passport 9500ci

 

This link, How to Reprogram V1 Radar Detector | Valentine Tech Reports | Radar Detectors , will take you to the V1 programming guide.
I had my V1 hard-wired and windshield mounted in each of my previous 2 Californias and now in my F12. Using the programming capability I've eliminated the majority of false alarms. Once you drive with a V1, using the directional arrows, you'll never use anything else. I modified their windshield suction cup mount to enable mounting at the highest point of the windshield. I've been using this setup for years. No one notices the unit from the outside and it's totally unobtrusive from the inside. The directional arrows make all the difference.

 

How did u modify the windshield suction cups?

 

For those interested, I'll post photos with detail in a few days.

 

Escort Redline for open highway where you might want to travel faster than the speed limit.

 

Do the police only really use Ka band and not X or K?

 

The bands in use depend on what part of the country your in and the radar equipment in use in that area. An internet search may provide answers to you question.

 

The photos show the V1 as mounted in my F12. The location is circled in red or a red arrow is used to indicate the V1 position when it may not be apparent. I adapted the suction cup mount to utilize 3M Dual Lock reclosable fastener TB3870. The unit is hardwired to the fuse box on the driver's side. The wire is tucked under the trim around the windshield. The only panel removed was the dash left-side trim, the door defrost vent duct is located in that panel, to ease access to the fuse box and enable fishing the wire. Wiring took all of 30 minutes. Same setup was used in both of my Californias and continues in other vehicles utilizing another V1. Once the suction-cup mount is modified the changing of vehicles is easy. This setup yields a semi-permanent mount. Again, the arrows on a V1 make all the difference.
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