larryfs

Our group of road racers have all ditched our V1's. We have all converted to Escort. Some have the Redline, 9500, the Max, and one of us is thinking about the MAX2 with phone app.

The technology is night & day. The V1 is a ~23 yo design. Something ridiculous like that as reported on the web. The false alarms were just too much to deal with anymore. Even with the newest V1, the X & K band false alerts are just ridiculous.

The Escort with GPS is amazing. It learns the false alerts, and locks them out. The best part is, with 1 push of a button, you can turn off X band completely. This is great when driving through a town loaded with false X. Then when you get back on the highway, 1 more push of a button, and you're in highway mode.

A major factor which converted me to Escort, was the red light camera warning system that comes with the Escort MAX. I got hit with too many red light tickets. Mostly stupid ones where I was making a turn on red, and didn't come to a complete stop. My town is famous for that.

Also, I'm pretty sure with Escort, the firmware updates are free. Where as V1, it'll cost you $100 for an upgrade.

UrbanKnight

So it has what value on the roadcourse? LOL

I've been a V1 guy since I can remember, but any "good" detector is worth its pricetag.

eogel

The value would be in getting to and from the road course.

froggy47

What about the v1 arrows? Especially the rear facing antenna. I do like knowing which direction the threat is from.



I agree the falses are a bit much.

What is the best "VALUE" escort these days? One of my v1's was stolen about a yr ago & I need to replace.

UrbanKnight

The real ballers are trailering their race cars!
I do love the arrows...

larryfs

The arrows are somewhat meaningless IMHO. Your foot is going on the brake no matter what. Does it really matter where the cop is ????

I'd rather have the red light protection, and less false alarms. Any detector that false alarms too much, you will simply ignore it after a while.

The nice thing about the Escort, there are so many features which are easily programmable. The GPS feature is also nice, it knows your speed, and it doesn't annoy me when I'm going under 20 MPH. Just 2 simple beeps. Even if there is a true radar trap, it knows your going slow enough. The low speed alert is fully adjustable.

froggy47

When my v1 goes off at low intensity I don't stomp the brakes, I start looking 360 degrees depending on the arrows to direct most of my "looking" in that direction. Usually this is the scenario. Of course if it goes off high intensity I ck my rear view for possible tailgater (usually I already know if it's clear or not) and stomp them.

So we have different styles of driving. I would like my v1 to "shut up" at low speeds.

So which escort is the best VALUE, I don't need a phone app or different colors of led.

Just a detector that works at freeway speeds & speed traps on secondary roads.

My gps has red light camera mapping but it would be good to have it on the detector also.

Some towns around here are taking down the cameras as the courts declare them illegal, or the idiots on city councils realize they cause MORE accidents, or it just pans out that they are not making enough money for the cities.

larryfs

I won't use the word value, since this hobby have nothing to do with value. This hobby has to do with spending serious money all around.

I'm far from an expert, but from my limited research, the Escort MAX, 9500, and the red line do not interface with a phone app. However, the MAX can be integrated to a phone app using a different power cord, at a later date. So the option is always there.

Bill32

If I was going to buy a new one, the 9500 would work for me.

I've owned Escorts for 30+ years and am running an old 8500 that still works well.

I never cared about the arrows , I always slow to the limit when the detector goes off anyway. After all these years, I can tell if it's coming from behind or towards me.

About 10 years ago, I was towing the race trailer with a V1 sitting on the dash beside the 8500. There was no difference , they both alerted within 1 second of each other and both picked up the false readings from the automatic door openers and alarm systems at the shopping malls.

JerryTX

This topic cracks me up since this argument in my household borders on religion. My son is a recent convert to the Passport line, he too was V1 user. I was so fed up with the V1 I called Mike Valentine to remind him I've been a user for what feels like 20 years and the false alerts were driving me nuts. Turns out I needed another upgrade. He never returned my voicemail btw. Still ticks me off. Anyway, the only 3 reasons I did not go Passport were:

1. I already owned a V1 and the upgrade ($250) was cheaper than the new Passport ($450+)
2. I am a WAZE user so it alerts me to red light cameras and real time proximity of police.
3. The directional arrows.

the blur

My personal experience, the worst customer service I have ever experienced was from mrs. valentine. No other company ever treated me so poorly. And there are many similar stories on the internet.

Just tonight I was in a friends car going down the highway in heavy traffic. Newly upgraded V1. The thing was beeping X band creeping down the highway at 10MPH in traffic. This is with all the junk filters on, and some other filtering system that was included in the upgrade price. We could not figure out where the x band false alarm was coming from. I got tired of the noise, and pulled the plug.

mcar00

Helpful thread. I thought it was my V1 that just went bad.

talon95

A lot of new cars emit k band now even. Can the new Escorts filter that out?

larryfs

It gets even worse for V1. The rumor is Mr. valentine is anti GPS.

So in order to eliminate radar alerts when you are going under x MPH, they want you to buy a savvy device that reads the speed from your OBD2 port. This also drains your battery.

If you buy a GPS Escort radar detector, it knows your speed at all times, and you can adjust the low speed alerts.

KeepRightPassLeft

You can have GPS lockouts with your V1. As long as your V1 is under a year old or has been updated in the last year, you can get the V1 bluetooth adapter for an android advice, get the free android app YaV1 which will I'll give you the following:

1. GPS lockouts
2. Ability to segment Ka band resulting in better performance.
3. Easier way to program your V1
4. Ability to view each separate bogy's frequency, direction, signal strength.
5. Better performance than the Escort Max, and Escort 9500ix

All that for $50. Instead of buying a new $500+ radar detector.

the blur

Your talking about a 3rd party app to interface with your V1.

From my perceptive, if someone needs to create a 3rd party app to overcome shortcomings of a device, there's a serious problem.

Also, I don't want to mount my phone, and be looking at it. Now you're looking at the V1, your phone, the road, etc, etc. I'd rather have a stand alone device.

the blur

Here is another V1 owner who doesn't appear too happy.

KeepRightPassLeft

You don't look at theV1, the phone serves as your visual interface. you don't need the phone to benefit from most of the V1's features. I just like the app because it gives me much more information than any radar detector display and Gps lockouts. The reason V1 doesn't do GPS lockouts? Google Flemming vs. Escort

KeepRightPassLeft

Bet ya, he didn't have TSF enabled on the window mount. From the highway signs, I think he is driving in OH, where they use K band traffic monitoring. If you dont have TNF enabled you will get constant alerts like that. Same thing for Escort products, even those with GPS filtering.

talon95

As alluded to before, if the new detectors can't filter out the k band emitted by many new cars, k band detection will be worthless soon anyway.

As far as Arrows, I find them invaluable particularly with the increase in k band pollution.

I've had many detectors over the years including Escorts, Bell's, and a V1. The V1 has been by far the most reliable.