V1 vs 8500 X50 vs SR7

Okay guys, don’t flame me too badly for dredging up this topic again, but I found some interesting and strange results in comparing a brand new V1, brand new 8500 X50, and my 8 month old SR7. I need a new detector for my 360 so after reading everything on this site, and on all the popular radar web sites, I decided to get *all 3* to test for myself!

I have all three in my car (using my 911 for the tests) together so I can get a real world comparison test. I am able to test X and K bands consistently through fixed radar units around, and multiple known, consistent, speed traps using Ka (I wonder what the police think of me continually driving past them time and time again…). I haven’t been painted with laser during the testing yet. The SR7 is of course built in (to my 911). The 8500 X50 and V1 units are in the middle of my windshield about half way up (making sure they have a clear rear line of sight). I’m able to test the units on long stretches of straight road, on curves, and on hills.

The first interesting thing is that the hidden 8 month old SR7 (in bumpers) and the new 8500 X50 (on windshield) perform almost identically! The 8500 X50 is supposed to have 50% more range than before, but it’s the same as the SR7. In about 90% of the radar cases I run across, the 8500 X50 and SR7 come on and show similar signal strength within .25 seconds of one another. In the other cases, one would come on before or after by as much as 2 full seconds. I attribute the latter to specific cases of one detector being lower/higher than the other. However, neither showed a detection advantage.

Bottom line: The SR7 and new 8500 X50 operate essentially the same (except the SR7 is remote). This means that either the SR7 with its bigger detectors is a great unit, or the new 8500 X50 doesn’t give 50% more range in *my* driving conditions.

Okay, now that I know the SR7 and 8500 X50 are close, I brought in the V1 (received yesterday in the mail). This is where things got a little strange.

First of all, I love the V1’s arrows! They really don’t help me (I slow down no matter what the threat), but I like watching the various arrows turn on/off along with the threat counter. If the V1 performs similarly to the other units, I’d take it over the 8500 X50 (but not the SR7/X).

However, the V1 detected differently from the Escort units by 40% of the time!! Big time differently. Either mine is faulty (don’t think so), or its characteristics are just that different on my routes and radar threats.

While the SR7 and 8500 X50 came on/off similarly, the V1 simply missed some of the threats the others picked up, and vice versa, by as much as 5 seconds (going about 40mph on a hilly, curved road for example)! I made sure the V1 was in the all bogeys mode. One time, I was in a traffic jam sitting close to a fixed X band radar. The Escort units were maxed out while the V1 didn’t show anything!? Given that this was X band, I really didn’t care (not a real threat). Interestingly enough, the V1 showed the threat from *behind* for a brief moment as I finally passed by when the others did not – although I couldn’t tell if it was the same X band radar.

Sometimes (more rarely), the V1 would detect signals in X and K that the Escorts both did not. For Ka, all 3 units were close in performance, with the SR7 actually coming alive first by a short time. When all 3 units showed a threat, the Escorts would max out first before the V1. I tried swapping the V1 and X50 on the windshield, but the results didn’t change.

I was wanting to keep the V1, but that X band episode (no detection) and the far different detection pattern leaves me wondering. I’m going to see if I can borrow a local new V1 for tests to see if mine is really bad. I’ll let you know.

Bottom line, given the great performance and stealth of the SR7 compared to the 8500 X50 and the V1, I’m sticking with it for now. I still need a portable unit for my other cars, and I’ll decide after I try another V1.

Has anybody else tested the new V1 and new 8500 X50 together (outside of the radar detector web sites which I don’t trust)? Observations?

Sorry again for bringing up radar detectors, but I thought my subjective results were interesting.

Tim