Radar detection - 812 SF / GTS

Hi guys

I’ve read some older posts but am interested in updated info. Has anyone installed a radar / speed camera detector in their 812 which they would recommend? My past experience hasn’t been good (too many false alerts so I stopped using it).

- which brand / model would you recommend?
- how and where did you install it? I’m not keen on ugly or messy wires in the cabin.
- I’ve heard of some models which connect to an external sensor (I think in the front grille), supposedly due to interference from the windshield. Any experience with that option?

thanks in advance

Karl

 

I installed an ALP system on my 812SF - specifically 3 laser RX/TX transmitters, radar antenna, and GPS and Bluetooth modules. I wired the system directly to the battery and installed a small hand held remote power switch that I can operate from inside the car when I want to activate/ deactivate the system and to prevent the battery from being discharged. All of the wiring can be hidden in the engine bay and the radar and gps antenna can be discreetly placed in slots on the inside of the front bumper accessed from inside the engine bay (however you do have to remove a part of the radar antenna bracket which protrudes from the sides for the best fit (but this doesn't affect the antenna itself). The laser RX/TX were mounted on the bottom side of the front bumper. You have to make a wedge (I did so from wood) which will level the sensors with the road. I painted them black and you barely noticed the install once done. The ALP APP controls the system once powered up via Bluetooth. I did not have to put any wires through the firewall. Overall the install took about a day and I did it myself.

I had best in class radar and laser detection with this system - detecting KA band on the highway from more than a 3/4 mile in most cases and everyone knows the ALP jams every laser on the market. The system is prone to K band false alerts however in my area KA band is by far the predominant police radar band in use. The ALP does allow you to filter K band ranges and has an algorithm to reduce falsing but it isn't the best. Unfortunately I sold my 812SF so I cant snap any photos but I can assure you it can be done with a bit of effort.

 

I have a window mounted Passport Max360 which works very well and has 360 degree detection with arrows. It's plenty for around here because it doesn't false alert on much, some K band but the 360c which is newer doesn't give any false alerts and has never failed to detect a cop. The one drawback to the window mounted units is that if you have an insulated/heated windshield, it cuts down the range but even on my new RR the 360c has no problems. The 360 couldn't work in my older RRs that had the heated windshields. I am not sure if it's the detector or the windshield that was improved.

The advantage of the window mount unit is that it can be moved between cars or taken out if you don't want it bothering you. I had the 9500ci installed in my 991tts and it was noisy and since it was older, gave a lot of false alerts. Waste of money to install a detector IMO because you are giving it to the next owner.

 

Thanks for all the data points. This info is quite helpful.

 

There is another thread in the main forum about this, with some helpful info.

Best and quietest Window mounts which can be hardwired with a hidden wire (installed about $700) :
Radenso pro m
Uniden r7
Escort redline 360
Valentine g2

Full car install systems (usually $5000-$6500 installed)
Radenso + ALP ( two different brands made to work together. One is radar, I've is laser jammer)
Escort Ci 360

They are all quiet with great range. Can't go wrong with any, so don't over think it.

Good luck!

 

Thanks guys, this is useful info. Last time I checked the battery powered ones were a waste of time (battery won't last more than an hour or two and have weaker signal / detection therefore poorer performance). Any thoughts? Has this changed with improved battery tech?

In terms of the hard wired install ones, I think most people put them up high in the center of windscreen near mirror. I personally find that obstructs vision. I have seen some installed on the dash, in the far corner (right next to A pillar). Any experience with these two options?

Thanks all

 

With what your preferences are, you probably are looking for a hard installed system. That said, it will add no value to the car, and if you don’t plan on keeping it long term it probably isn’t worth it.

I have a radenso ultimate system (radenso for radar + ALP for laser jamming) hard installed into my 812SF. I am the same way not wanting wires showing, and really don’t want something on my windshield. With the radenso + settings from Vortex Radar I’ve been able to filter most false alerts, making it a very quiet unit unless there is a true alarm. It’s probably saved me from 10-12 tickets so far. Your mileage may vary as I have no idea what is available in the UK market, and what is legal/works well in the UK market.

I added a bunch of pictures from the install. All the jammer heads are hidden, and the radar unit is also hidden behind the bumper.

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Ive stopped going with the custom installs because they are so expensive and much more difficult to upgrade hardware.

Just my opinion but I think the Escort 360C or Max or now they have a new one, this is kind of like the iPhone of radar detectors. You kind of set it and forget it. It does everything very well, its a little pricy. It has an app but its not absolutely necessary to use.

V1 generation 2- why did he just not call it the V2?! It is a little more involved to get the best out of it, you want to use this 3rd party app that is only on Android and then you have to remember to use this app every time you get into the car. Supposedly, like this, it is better. Not sure how much better though.

Then we have the Redenso which I am not really that sure about but I hear great things.

I am at the point where the iPhone approach is best for me. And I can throw up Waze and the triad of my own eyes/experience + Escort + Waze = good results.

 

I have the latest Android Auto on my phone which works great with the 2020 RR. It seems to have incorporated some of the Waze reporting in it because it called out speed traps. I couldn't tell if it had a way to report a speed trap though.

 

Hi, after some further digging, I've had the Stinger system recommended to me (https://uk.stinger.com). It's hard installed so doesn't have a unit in the cabin. I would likely get front and rear sensors with laser & radar detection. I'm all for keeping the cabin as standard as possible and don't want any screens etc. Thankfully, Stinger do quite a nice, sleek strip display which provides the requisite visual warning lights (see website).

The sensors are mounted in the front and rear bumpers, but tiny and well integrated so they are almost invisible. It seems to me that with modern windscreens (which are usually heated and/or UV reflecting) having a radar detection unit inside the cabin (with no external sensors) is likely to not work as well as one with sensors on the outside. Is that right?

- Does anyone have any experience with the Stinger system incl. real world use?
- Any thoughts on my proposed set up / install?

BTW the car is a keeper so I'm not concerned about selling price.

Many thanks!

Karl

 

I don't have personal experience personally, but my installer highly recommends them. And an online reputable radar guy recommends them as well (https://www.vortexradar.com/). I've seen them before on other high end vehicles, and I've never heard anything bad about them. Downside is the cost is quite a bit more than other systems, however they sure do integrate well.

 

They are among the best units and in some ways they are supposed to be the best. But at least the last time I looked a few years ago it was huge money and the system requires you to mount another fairly decently sized screen somewhere in your car. For me this was the deal breaker. My take is installers love them because they take many hours to install.


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OK thanks guys, I'm getting some pricing info this week for the Stinger. However, I've discovered two things which give me some hesitation:

- Quite a few modern cars seem to have radar-based cruise control, which can cause false alerts for a detector (ie. other cars cause false alarm on my detector). Since these are not in a fixed location, the detector cannot 'learn' to ignore them. (although maybe these operate on a different band / signal strength to a police radar?)
- In the UK it is illegal to jam a laser (and the punishment is serious). Not something I want to do. It is legal to detect laser (and radar) but the issue is that the police lasers are fairly pinpoint and so the chances are that by the time your radar/laser detector warns you, it's too late (unlike radar guns which send out a wider signal which bounces off things and can be detected early)

I'm not a technically minded person so perhaps I'm wrong about the above (or how much of a real world issue they actually are). But if correct, these factors make me less interested in spending thousands on an install which will only be somewhat effective. Any thoughts?

 

Not worth getting a laser jamming system if they are illegal and you can get in real trouble for it. So for that reason, would pass on stinger.

As for the radar, you can do a lot in the settings (for most of them) to get rid of blind spot monitoring false alarms, as well as most cruise control. I copied settings from a well reputed expert and have had very few false alarms. Anything high end like Escort, Radenso, etc will have the ability to do a lot with the settings to help minimize false alarms.

 

That’s what I was always told Karl for us in the UK.

By the time you have detected the Police radar it’s too late as they have detected you.

I gave up with them years ago and just use a Tom Tom Sat Nav with up to date speed camera locations on, mainly because the Ferrari Sat Navs are so poor. Saying that our new Volvo and Range Rover, now seem to have speed camera locations on their Sat Navs, I have not tried the Portofino one yet, so it may well have this.

 

I recently had K40 360 platinum installed with diffusers. The range is more than adequate, almost no false alerts, easy to use, discrete, amazing customer service/support, unobtrusive install and easy to move to other cars.

I’d recommend them. No affiliation.


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The Passport Max 360 and 360c both have laser detectors and on my 9500ci that was built-in I had laser jamming as well. I only jammed a laser once and I think the cop suspected it because he looked at his gun in a funny way. It was on a 35mph street and I was doing 45 so not a big deal but that's the only time in 7 years of having laser detectors that it actually was laser. Most of the rest of the time it's a reflection off the hood or windshield that sets it off. In addition, laser has to hit you pretty directly so you don't detect it until it's got you and if you scramble it and the cop realizes it, he will pull you over and you are screwed. I think it's really hard for cops to get good readings from laser and it's so limited they don't use it much.

As to the adaptive cruise control, I had a lot of trouble with it on my 991tts interfering with the 9500ci but they managed to fix that and now that doesn't happen much at all. The newest one, the Redline 360 is probably the best and I think I will get another one of those for my car and pass the 360 on to the Portofino. So for half the cost of an installed one, I can have more or less the top of the line in all three cars.

The power wire is annoying but I run it from the 12v in the glove box on the RR and it's not so bad but it comes from the console on the Ferraris and of course there is the wire in the middle but it doesn't really bother me.

If I were you I would buy a window mount and see how well it works. If you don't like it, do the expensive install, you are only out $600 or so but if you don't like the installed one, you are out much more than that.