A few years ago i read an article which i can not find again (how convenient) about certain c4's being close to radar proof (cop radars that is) and i was wondering on how true this is.
from memory i think the fact that some radiators are angled back(my 87's not so i assume its the 92 onwards models) and a certain windshield tint (zr1??) combined with the cars low, flat type shape. this altogether makes the car hard to target??


now, like i said it was a few years ago, i did not have my vette at the time, so my attention was not fully into the 'vette' article.

im not game enough.... nor do i have the sufficient funds available (after the cops take my car away) to actually test this theory..... also i dont have a zr1 tinted window or raked radiator, so i need to know if there is some tuth to this? or, if my imagination over a few years has warped the truth in which i read. are c4 corvettes tricky to be picked up by handheld radar

p.s. i dont exactly know how the radar system the cops use, works, so excuse me if some of my possibly 'imagined' theories are pointless.

 

The basic point of that story was that the C4 corvettes do not have many surfaces that accurately reflect radar. Just in case you're unsure on how radar works, a sound is emitted from the radar gun and bounced back to the gun off of the target (in this case your car). The gun receives the signals as you drive and can judge your speed based on the time it takes for the wave to travel to you and back. It extrapolates your speed by how quickly the time it takes for the waves to make the "round trip" decreases as you approach.

Because the C4 doesn't have an easy surface to reflect the wave back to the source, it's hard to get a bead on them. The waves will bounce off at different angles instead of back to the gun. If the officer can catch one of the front lights or the front license plate it's easier to get an accurate reading.

I've gotten a speeding ticket in my C4, so while it may be harder, it is possible

 

ahh.... so it wasnt totally in my head great info, do you know of any people ever reported speeding, while driving past a radar, and not getting pulled over? i mean it must have hapened a fair decent amount for there to be a write-up about it.
also, have hand held radar technology improved models since c4 days?

 

Doesn't matter what kind of car, beating the radar is all myth. All cars are the same in this respect.

 

Hardly radar proof, but yes the C4 was detected at considerably less range than whatever they were comparing it to. It was either Car and Driver or Road and Track, probably C&D.

The reason given was that with the headlights down and no front plate, the C4 offers very few vertically-oriented reflective surfaces so it scatters the radar more. The angled radiator was mentioned as well.

Doubtful that it's going to save anybody a ticket. The way to avoid a ticket is to detect the radar a couple miles ahead when somebody else is being targeted.

 

Do you know where i can re-read this article

 

The C4 is more Laser proof than radar proof.

The body of a Corvette, being mostly a composite material instead of metal, does not reflect radar energy. But, the drivetrain and chassis have plenty of metal to reflect radar waves.
Having less metal area than standard vehicles may make it "slightly" less of a target -- but not much.

For Laser, paint the front flat-black, no front plate, keep your headlights down, and cover your fog lights, and this will make your vehicle far less of a target for laser.
But, don't think you are invisible.


Tom Piper

 

One of my kids ran a lot of radar in his former job.
According to him, speed and your gonna get caught. One of his buddies bought several radar 'avoiders' and detectors over the years and the two of them had lots of fun trying them out. None worked.
If you have a good detector and someone far ahead of you gets scanned, you might get enough warning to slow down in time.
But if you get pulled over and have a detector on your dash, you'll get a ticket instead of a warning every time.
There's an unmonitored speed indicator (just a big sign) between my house and town (40mph zone). It pops on my '95 Corvette a good 200 yards before it gets my Blazer or Regal.

 

I always wondered if jammers work and about the legality in using them...

 

"Real" Radar jammers are illegal everywhere, and by their nature are easy to detect -- just ask the Federal Communications Commission.

Laser Jammers are legal in most states (there are some exceptions).
But, if the law finds out you jammed him, it is becoming common for them to fine you for "interferring with an officer in performance of his duty."

Tom Piper

 

We should be clear about a couple of points. First there are two commonly used speed detection devices used by traffic police; Dopler radar and Laser. They work on totally seperate principals. Dopler radar sends out a signal which bounces off your car and returns to the radar antenna. The signal is simular to a radio wave. The time it takes for the signal to return is manthmaticly converted to speed then displayed in the squad car. Most radar signals are not sent out until the officer sees your car speeding and activates a standby button. There is no way to avoid the signal. Jamming devises work well against Dopler radar but or illegal in most states. Getting caught with a jamming device can be very costly. People on byicycles can be clocked by radar so any car, regardless of it's shape, makes a good target.

Lasers send out a beam of lader light which is returned to the unit and then mathmaticly converted to speed. Since it is light and not a radio wave, it needs to be "reflected back". Reflective license plates and glass make it much easier to reflect the laser light and this is where officers like to aim it. Less target area can make it harder to get a reading, but not impossible. No front plate with lights down = less target area.

 

I test this every day, we have radar detectors on post that state how fast your going. I can just about get right up on them before they actually record my speed. Most the times I can get by them with out it detecting my speed. So its not a myth. Every other car gets detected pretty far back (tested that with my minivan)

 

Ozvette87, ill tell you right now its a fact that older style radar will not give them the true speed youre doing, i had an 87 coupe like yours for 6 years, and never got done. The way i know they read a lower speed is the road works signs we sometimes have here in Australia, not sure if you have them over there in WA, but here in QLD we have a few signs the post your speed. I have been following cars that have been clocked at much the same speed as my speedo indicated to me, yet when it gave my reading i was as much as 15kph under in an 80kph zone. I sped past a speed camera a few years ago at 120kph and never got a fine. Yet i was going faster than everyone else.

Lazer speed detection on the other hand will get you. And as of tuesday i dont doubt it is reasonably accurate, cause the speed he showed me on the gun was the speed i was doing. He got me from the front at just over 400 metres (first time ive ever been done!!! )

 

The C4 is actually less "Radar Proof" than the C3 according the the Car & Driver sidebar that accompanied their review of the '84 C4. The way they tested was how many feet away the car was from the radar when it could first be detected. The C4 was still pretty good but the C3 was the best they ever tested.

 

Your principle theory is correct but a "RADAR" is not a "SONIC" pulse. It's a radio wave - RADAR is an acronym - "Radio Detection And Ranging". Doppler radar measures the shift in frequency to determine speed.

 

You could redo your bodywork in "stealth" technology!

 

Ohhh, I like that idea. A stealth Vette. We could add gat guns and missiles and and uh like some cool stuff and stuff.

 

Your theory on how radar speed measuring guns work is totally WRONG !!!! Sound is not emitted by radar guns, a microwave radio wave is emitted by them. Speed is not measured by timing the ,"round trip". Radar guns measure speed based on the Doppler effect. Reflected radar waves from a moving object return at a higher frequency (during approach) and a lower frequency (when driving away) and the frequency difference is detected and converted to, and displayed in, miles per hour.

 

Dave Mc Llelan mentions this in his book about the C4. Basically their radar showed a reading when the car was half the distance away comparing to other cars.

 

The reason is because fiberglass attenuates microwaves and the radar gun microwave signal is diminished passing through the fibreglass, reflects off of metal behind the fibreglass and is attenuated again going back through the fiberglass towards the radar gun. Metal cars provide no attenuation to a reflected radar gun signal and thus can be measured by a radar gun much farther away than a Corvette.