Does anyone know if there is enough voltage in the wiring to our rearview mirrors to run the radar detector? Or am I going to have to go on to the foot well?

 

Yes there is. Mine is there.

 

Sweet! Thank you for the info!

 

You do not happen to have a Valentine 1, do you?

 

Many people, including me, power them from the mirror using the mirrortap power cords, a V1 isn't going to be any different

 

Escort 360 but you can just buy a mirror tap off Amazon for like 10 bucks for a 3 pack. I used it on my Silverado and C8 also (but have one left over because I've had this on my C5 for 10+ years)

 

These days - are they any good? Cops still use radar? Or have they moved on to other things? I friend of mine loaned me an older Valentine - and I found out its squealing was caused by my iphone! Turned it off and squealing stopped. Decided to ditch the detector and go with community spotting using WAZE....

 

The newer ones are supposedly calibrated to avoid that issue. My V1 was on a mirror tap on my STi and it was maybe 2013-2014 when laser cruise and blind spot monitoring started getting really popular that it was going off all the time on the highway. The cost to update the software was nearly the cost of a new unit so I sold it off. I realistically don’t need one much anymore anyways.

 

Mine is powered from the mirror too, valentine. I very rarely turn it on anymore so I'm thinking about ditching it and just go without.

 

I love my Valentine 1 Gen 2 and it is powered from the mirror. Yes they are still relevant.

 

I have wanted to get a radar detector but never did.

Onice driving away from Phoenix area to town of Globe, AZ at night in C5, got behind a old S10 pickup, it's single lane twisty road for a long time.

This person was driving extra slow like 30 mph when speed limit varied between 55-65, I didn't tailgate or be rude or anything but wonder why they were driving so slow, maybe truck had mechanical issues or elderly person driving.

Then after a long time a passing lane comes up and I go to pass, but wait the S10 driver floors it and tries to keep me from passing, so they were being a jerk and not having mechanical issues or just a old person driving slow.

No way is a S10 going to keep a C5 from passing, dropped it down a few gears and passed, as soon as I went by him in the darkness saw a Arizona Highway Patrol cruiser sitting on edge of road.

Ended up getting ticket and cop asked what was emergency, told him other person been driving extremely slow for 20 minutes and then tried to keep me from passing in passing zone.

Got a ticket and thought that this is one of those times a radar detector would have helped.

Was 2 days after Christmas 2011, did online defense driving class that cost a couple of hundred since had not had a ticket since 1990s.

I'll bet that S10 driver sure loved what happened, they probably knew about the speed trap and set this up to entertain themselves.

 

I wonder how much the cop paid him to help him get his quota.

 

good dope on the power source!

I have a Uniden I spontaneously bought at Sams. It's actually been pretty decent. worked well on the cross country drive when I bought the car in Tacoma.

Last week, I was number one at a traffic light when it lit up about Ka. I was actually headed IN to town, so I wasn't risking much. I kept looking for the ol son ... natta. kept driving, buster kept squawking about Ka full strength. "check 6" ... nothing. This thing detected the city cop from the other side of town ... 3 traffic lights ... about 1.25 miles one end to the other.

It's also been able to cull most of the false alarms my cheapo Cobra would alert on other vehicle emitters ... lane drift/traffic alerts/etc.

 

Another question I have is if the windshield/polarization/tint can affect a radar detector? I have two RFID items on the windshield and one never reads and the other is just fine.

 

I tapped into the mirror for my Escort 360c no problems

 

I used the mirror tap for my Escort Max360. That thing has saved my bacon more times that I care to share about. I use the app with it to, that way you get the benefit of others users alerts.

 

Radar detectors are illegal here in VA. I think they mostly use Lidar now though.

 

I have a escort 360 max running off a mirror tap in all my vehicles. In my opinion it’s worth it’s weight in gold.

 

Mine is tied into the mirror wiring. Been like that since Jan but my prior C5 I also done it and used it for years and never even blew a fuse.

 

My Uniden saved me the other day.

Had made the go-home CFA stop. Returning to the toll road (75 mph limit in a rural area by the way) ... nice long acceleration lane for the slow poke walmart trucks ... but that's for another forum ...

I let Valerie loose. As I was merging (surprising amount of traffic), the Uniden squawked with the whistling Ka. Nothing in front ... check 6 ... topping the overpass under which I was just 15 seconds ago ... black/white. Hey ol son! Just cruising at plus 4. :P

If he'd had his windows down, he'd have heard ol Val talk up that on-ramp.