Passport Max vs. Valentine 1

My 458 came with a passport detector/defuser built in. Having detection reminded me how much all my cars need it. I want hard wire hand held units in. I'd always been a V1 guy but the Passport Max sounds like great tech. Thoughts?

 

Escort is doing some great things and I think they are at least a match for Valentine in terms of detection. I think they are ahead in terms of anti-falsing and custom install. To me it comes down to the user interface. I really love the V1's arrows so thats what I tend to go for but if the car has the Passport built in, I wouldn't worry about it at all. I think it really is the best detector out there.

 

I have a 9500CI built into my 458 and drive between Las Vegas and San Diego frequently, giving the system a good test. I have been "saved" innumerable times. Not debating brands or specific features, the installation is integrated aesthetically into the car the technology works.Best

 

I just bought the Passport Max for my wife's Range Rover and I really like it. It is a step forward I believe. It is very good at filtering false alarms and will learn consistent "false" beeps and then remove them after a couple of times encountering it by memorizing the "threat" with the GPS function. It also has the road you are on speed limit listed on the screen as well as your current speed and can be customized to alert you when you are a certain speed over. It can track multiple signals and lists each ones strength. If you subscribe to the camera database and LiVE which I highly recommend you get a great added benefit in city driving and highway alerts. With the Live function it notifies you of a true threat ie Ka, POP, or Laser from another connected radar ahead of you a mile in advance and provided distance to threat, plenty of time to adjust. Perhaps long distance highway range is a little less than the Passport Redline or V1 but the Live function is way out in front. iPhone connects by Bluetooth automatically and all functions can be controlled thru the phone on the fly including mode, display color, etc. The other long range units V1 etc just seem to always be beeping at everything which makes you eventually ignore it.
Added bonus is the sticky cup windshield mount actually works and stays on. None are perfect but I am glad I bought the Passport Max for now until the next best thing comes along.

 

Nice review.

Do you miss the V1 arrows? Is it a larger size than the V1?

 

The V1 does have better rear coverage but I really only found it was useful on highway drives when false alarms were uncommon. The V1 has slightly better Laser detection as well but unless you happen to catch a random shot of an adjacent car A Laser trained directly on you probably has already provided the officer with your speed. That is where Live can be helpful because it has the potential to notify you of someone's radar picking up the signal ahead of you. In my area Laser is still rare as they still use the ones where they stand outside the vehicle and aim. The departments much prefer POP and Instant on Ka that the can cruise around in the vehicles with. Another thing I have noticed is more DOT have reguired semi trucks to be equip

 

Sorry posted before finishing

Semi trucks with auto radar braking systems to decrease forward accidents which will set off sensitive detectors when along side them the Passport did not have any false alerts related to this on our recents trips over the Holidays.

Size wise the Passport Max is larger than I would have thought but in a different way. It is quite long but narrow and thinner which I feel is less obstructive on the windshield. Some have complained about the sequential flashing lights being distracting but did not bother me even a night as there is no need to watch it. It gives verbal alerts and when linked to your phone also verbal alerts from the phone including type of threat and the lights on top of the unit flash like a heartbeat then silences quickly so no annoying continuous beeps.

 

quite timely actually... C&D just posted an article that address your questions...

Escort Passport Max vs. Valentine One ? Comparison Test ? Car and Driver

 

Very useful review. I think that the biggest problem in detectors is falsing. I will buy the unit that does the best job of rejecting them. The rest of it is bells and whistles. For example the sensitivity is now so good that there is actually a disadvantage in having more.

 

I use Valentine in my F430 and loved it. Had one in my M3 too but when I traded that in for new M5 it would false non stop due to the blind spot detection and lane departure which spits out K band whether you have the feature on or off. This made the valentine useless in my M5. Also I literally mean non stop. Not a moment the Valentine ever stopped alerting on K. Had to keep volume on zero so that was not a solution.

I did a lot of reading and ended up getting the Passport Max for the M5. Even with every band and POP on it does not false constantly in the M5. I have not been able to test it out in the wild due to salt and snow here in NJ but hope to as soon as it clears. I also purchased and recommend the LIVE smart cord to use with your smartphone for live updates from other drivers.

The Max interface and feature set is very good. With Smartcord you can set all the params via your smartphone which is really nice instead of doing it on the detector.

There are still a few bugs they are working on though with the Max. For example I set a police marker at my home just to test the Live feature. Well 3 weeks later it is still there and won't clear it on the phone or the Max using all available delete methods. Escort acknowledged it is a bug but still has not issued the fix AFAIK.

Last the suction cup fell off 3 times just sitting in my heated garage and the detector tumbled down the dash and onto the console. Fortunately no damage to either those 3 times. I cleaned windshield and the cup again and mounted without the detector on it just to see if that would hold and so far so good. Have not tested it with detector on it yet to see if it will hold with that.

I'd do a hardwired escort system but can't find any installers in NJ that do high end cars so far which is why I settled on the dash mount systems.

Escort Max is a new design with lots of new tech. Valentine is a 10 or 20 year old design. Granted there are software updates but they only go so far. For example in my case their solution to fixing my constant K band POP was to disable that and use traffic monitoring. However that means if I get hit by that POP radar I get NO alert. Their detector cannot parse the frequency like the Max or Bel Stir+ simply due to hardware limits on this now very old design. Not an issue if police in your area never use K POP but if they do (as in NJ) then it makes the V1 useless

 

I agree with all the pro Escort comments, but I would point out you can turn off various frequencies with the V1.

Great review by C&D.

My general advice is unless you are just so used to and comfortable with V1 that you don't want to switch, the Escort product is a better choice. I'm a huge V1 fan and I have to admit that I think the next time I might make the change. The V1 is great but its simply way behind the times.

 

Very helpful post. The advantage of the V1 remains the arrows/direction finder feature. I suspect this is patent protected and that the 20 years will run out fairly soon, after which you will see other units adapting it.

 

From what I read the patent was issued in 1991 and expired in 2011. For some reason Escort just has not copied it yet. Escort had some reason I think in an FAQ why they don't think arrows are worthwhile. Basically said if you get an alert you should take heed regardless of what direction it's coming from.

 

Very interesting. In that case it is stubborn NIH pride that prevents Escort and others from adopting it (though it does require more area to display the arrows). It is in fact a useful feature and many users think so.

 

I have couple of Valentine 1s. I bought the second one in Feb 2013 for use in my 458. It is very sensitive but the false alarms rendered it extremely annoying. BUT YOU CAN PROGRAM THE V1. The manual says nothing about it, but if you go on the website there is downloadable info about how to do it. Among other things, you can increase the Ka sensitivity and turn off the K and X bands. Here in NY, the police do not use K and X, and those bands are the source of almost all false alarms from other cars and non-police roadside radar (those things that flash your speed at you). Once I programmed the V1 to boost Ka and turn off K and X, it is terrific. In states where police use K (or K POP), I think the false alarms remain an issue.

 

I have the same experience as Ski Bum.

I agree with you Noblesse Oblige. I think Valentine should enter the 21st century with a database driven product but I don't think Mike Valentine has any desire to do that.

 

Yes if you are in a state where these bands are not used it is great. Here in NJ every single band and laser are used in various counties and town so everything is either on or you leave yourself exposed.

To the other poster above I agree the arrows are great and once you have them they are missed. I'll have to drive awhile though with the Max to see if I get used to it. I kept my Valentine in my F430 and I might just double mount the Max and the V1 on my M5 for awhile to see how they both do. For the V1 I'll only use the visuals and turn sound OFF because it never stops falsing due to Lane Departure noise from the M5. This way I get the arrows and confirmation on V1 but keep the other info, sound and LIVE on the Max.

 

as far as i am concerned, radar only works well on highways. too much false alarm in city.

when it comes to radar, i think v1 arrows are great.

however, most highway patrols now use laser. a diffuser is your only protection with laser. this makes 9500ci the best setup. too bad it requires installation. i would like to see a wireless laser diffuser combined with v1.

 

I have the V1 and have been very happy with it. However, it is very sensitive.

I live in Ohio where cops still use K and we have a ton of those traffic monitoring "drones". Thankfully Valentine came up with a new feature for filtering out the traffic drones. Had to send my unit in for an update, but now it is working great. Really reduced the number of false alarms.

I wish I could turn K off, but it is still used a lot around here so have to keep it on.

If you properly program the V1, I personally think it is the best one out there.

 

Forgot to add that the Passport Max has downloadable updates which is nice. Unlike Valentine where you have to ship back to them for updates and do without it for however long it takes the Max you just download and plugin the detector via usb to your pc/laptop and update the firmware. Valentine again lacks in this area due to the very old design of the unit.

I'd love to see Valentine update his detector with live tools and alerts as well as PC to USB to Detector software updates online.

Like djantlive says above if they are using Laser it is a killer. I got hit by laser in my M3 few years ago and all the V1 told me was that they got me. Too late. I was in a pack of 3 cars and he pulled me over. Fortunately he let me off due to family card but did stick me with a no front license plate fine.

 

Where you live would be helpful.

Best

 

Central Jersey. Just added it to my profile now. Near New Brunswick/Princeton area

 

V1 just beeps constantly. Its pretty much useless.

 

So you can take the train into Manhattan. Cars are pretty useless there, especially Ferraris except maybe on Sunday morning.

Shiney side up.

Best.

 

I have a V1 as well but will be buying the Max. I like the possiblity of the upgrades as well as the ability to interfaces with other detectors via GPS and smartphone interface.