Passport 9500 ix radar detector test

yes; LED taillights are notorious for setting of laser

In town my V1 drives me nuts. To the point its really not very useful. The hypersensitivity is great on the open road but in-town its completely useless. And who designed the programming user interface anyway, grace hopper?

I have the 8500 escorts in most of my other cars, and they have been solid. the V1 gives me a half second or so more notice, but at the expense of being so obnoxious that I have at least a 50% chance of just ignoring it anyway. So technically it may have more range but I probably I have a greater chance of being ticketed due to my own desensitization.

On the wide open road, say NV hiway 95 where there shouldn't be any radar, I want the V1, no question. The half second extra range makes a difference. But for a DD, around town, typical on-ramp horsing-aroung, the next car gets the 9500.

 

Yes, supposedly some of the newer Audis and other German makes have "lane change" warnings which are radar based.

 

Does anyone have either pictures or advice on the best installation location for an IX inside a 360?
I have mine installed about as good as you can get it using the coil power cord, but think it looks pretty lousy. Is the best solution to go purchase the longer cord and semi-hard wire it?

I do not wish to permanently alter anything in the vehicle so hard wiring is out for me!

 

Hard wiring does not permanently alter anything. You can go to eBay and type in "Escort 9500i hard wire" or "Escort 9500ix hard wire" and buy a kit for about $8.00. They have kits that can plug right into your fusebox if you don't want to use a wire tap. Once you plug it into the fuse, you just have to screw the ground wire in somewhere and your detector will work. Look at the the pictures in this link to see how easy it is.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ESCORT-RADAR-9500i-8500-x50-7500-POWER-Hard-Wire-CORD_W0QQitemZ350101022085QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item5183a5a585&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

 

I have had several RD's, I have the 9500ci in a Corvette now and love it.
I plan to put another unit in my Porsche, and since they are 100% shielded and have the sensor mounted out side the cabin, you can also run a windshield mount if you feel that you may want a non GPS unit for use on the interstates.

The cardinal sin of radar detectors is getting desensitized to a alert and even with its faults, the 9500ix or the 9500ci is a far better choice for me.

If you are really interested learning about radar detectors, here is a really good forum to learn about detectors.

http://radardetector.net/forums/?request=http%3A%2F%2Fradardetector.net%2Findex.php

Just a couple of things, the patent that Valentine has on the arrows will expire in a year or so, and Bellscort (Belltronincs/Escort) owns over 80% of the current Radar Detector patents. (my understanding YRMV)

I think in one of our weekly updates soon after the patent runs out the arrows that are built into the 9500 series will point direction also.

I have had every thing from a POS Cobra (which leaks so bad it will set a good detector off) to a V1.

I traded my 9500ix in on a 9500ci and there is no comparison in the range and performance as far as I am concerned.
The 9500ci just out performs the V1 and the 9500ix.

I know of no test that has been done comparing the ci to any of the others.

The cases of the truelock blocking out police radar are very rare, never has happened to me in over a year of running the ci and the ix before that.

That gets a lot of folks, they think the ix and the ci are the same, they are not, the ci uses the feed horns and circuits from the STI-r.

If you want max range and sensitivity, look at the new Escort Redline, it is getting real good reviews and it is aimed at the V1 for range and sensitivity and looks like is has won the battle.

One other thing to consider is where you are going to use a RD, in or near towns the V1 or any other good RD with out GPS might drive you nuts with the constant false alarms, it did me.

I like the remote units because they are hidden, but who installs them has a lot to do with how well and how long they will work.
If you see ScotchLocks any where, run away and find some one who will take the time and install it right.

It took a full day for two full time pro mechanics to install the one on my Corvette, I expect it will take longer on my Porsche and even longer than that on a Ferrari.

Good luck with what ever you end up buying.

Greg Nettles

 

Real life demo of the STI-r VS the 9500ci VS the Redline VS the V1.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFFg17T438o&feature=channel_page

You can draw you own conclusions from it.

 

Would be great if the detector could disable alerts when you are going < 15mph. Grocery store parking lots and shopping malls are ridiculous sources of K band noise.

 

The 9500IX and CI do just that, but the threshold is 25 if I remember right.

 

The Cheetah GPS mirror does what you are talking about. You can set the speed you want to filter out alerts below.

http://www.speedcheetahusa.com/scshop/Sec24.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDvnrFFcOVU

http://www.youtube.com/user/speedcheetah#play/uploads/32/mKLkND61cpM

 

Good luck with any Escort or Bel alerting to a cop using quick triggers of radar or short bursts of instant-on radar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hi5CTyj81Rg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6jEu__l-h8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uyjtm_uRJ-0

The $400 V1 can beat anything made by Bel or Escort that is $500 or less and it can still habg with the $1100 Bel STi-R and the $1600 Escort 9500ci.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7b8_cwjziA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWGSK7ntmno

 

True, but at $409 including the interface there are better choices IMHO.

I will have to say that I do really like the GPS mirrors, I just cant justify that much for what it does and does not do.

Greg

 

Good luck with any RD against IO, that much is pretty much a revenue getter regardless of V1, Escort, or Belltronics.

I think you have me pegged as a V1 hater, that is not the case, I had one, actually I had 2 at one point, they are great for what they are.

I just like the GPS systems, it all depends on how much false alerts bother you and what you are willing to give up to get rid of them.
I freak when mine goes off, I know it is a real threat, with the V1, not so much.


You have to admit, the clip of the video I posted showed that the 9500ci and the STI-r out performed the V1 in real life testing though.

And you are right, the are WAY to much money for what you get with pretty much any remote mount.

 

The mute function on the V1 needs improvement. When you go into a shopping mall, the unit goes off of course, so you hit mute. Then another radar hits you, and you press mute again. Then another and again and again its just ridiculous. I've had to press mute as many a 6 times. Last time I just turned it off, but then halfway home I realized I forgot to turn it back on.

The escort OTOH you hit mute once and it stays muted until no more radar signals, which is nice.

The V1 is great on the open road but its really outdated compared to the escorts when it comes to features and usefulness. The arrows are the only thing going for it.