Anyone have a radar detector installed?
and if so which one and from where?

 

illegal in canada

 

Radar detectors are legal in several provinces including BC and AB. Illegal in ON, but I'm not sure where else.

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr>

Anyone have a radar detector installed?
and if so which one and from where

<hr></blockquote>
By installed, do you mean hidden? And by where, do you mean where to buy or where to install?

<font color=blue>GroundingGear™ Equipped </font color=blue>

 

yeah they are illegal. but I'd also like to know who has one and how well it works for you in ONT esp GTA.

 

by where i meant where did you get it from.......
i know its illegal, but i'm pretty sure someone has one.
I wanna know if the cops in the gta can detect them and if so which ones..

 

http://www.speedzones.com.

Recommend you read the article thoroughly.
Answer to questions: almost anywhere in the states, yes, all of them. If you're a non-believer, I had my supposedly undetectable detector detected and confiscated a few years back. I was living in NS (where they were legal at the time), and got nabbed 10 km from the NB border in Quebec on the 20. You'll know you're screwed when you drive past the cop, no alert on the detector, and then the lights come on. I got mine back simply by mailing a photocopy of my license to PQ. And since I knew I'd need to continue travelling in PQ, I paid the 500 buck fine.

DB<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small"><EM>Edited by gsedanman on 05/31/04 04:37 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

so basically it's not wise to have a radar detector in GTA? If anyone had good experience with it, please recommand a place to buy/install.

 

Hey guys,

I got mine from a BestBuy in California last time I was there.
The scoop about the Detectors in ON is that they are obviously illegal but as far as I read and researched in to this if the cops find out about it they will usually only confiscate the detector and/or maybe a fine but it will not result in a further investigation.

Do they really work? Well it really depends on how much you spend and how fast you are going. They are as little as US $50 to up to US $400 and obviously there are differences in sensitivity and number of bands each model support.

If you don't speed over 20 or so Klicks you could get something moderate, US $100-150 and be fine. Also, the way you mount the device (high or low on windshield) greatly affects its ability to give you advance warnings.

Some of the manufacturers of the better ones I know of are:

Cobra, Valentine and Passport. Try searching for each of these say, "Valentine Radar" on goofle and you will get to their sites.

Anyways, I'm happy with my mid level Cobra and yes, it has saved me couple of times.

Pay attention though, if the cop is using a Laser Gun, even if your detector does support Laser Detection and does infact detect it, chances are it's already too late cause by the time your detector alerts you, the cop has already got the reading.

One last thing, radar detectors will also detect the proposed photo radars that we will soon be seeing on Ontario highways!

 

So after reading all the posts i still dont quite understand... Is it worth driving down to buffalo or something along those lines and buying a radar detector??? Is it worth the $$ and gas money lol

 

Depends on how you drive really. If you speed over 15 km too often, I say it's a good thing to have. It increases your chances of avoiding the ticket but it's never a guarantee anyways.

I say it's a good thing to get if it was convinient to pick up, say whenever you're in states but I wouldn't really drive all the way to Buffalo just for a Radar Detector!

Besides, its all about the $$ you pay. The more will get you a better one. Expect a minimum of US $100 for a mid-end model like Cobra.

A good one like Valentine or Passport will set you back several hundreds.

So weight in everything and see if you really need it.

 

I would be careful of the expecting your radar detector to save you from photo radar. As I am in Alberta, which we have had that damn photo radar for some time now, I can tell you not to rely on it to much. I will attempt to explain:
The photo radar vehicle will park on the side of the road, or on a service road facing in the same direction as traffic. His radar device is pointing down the road ahead of you, so your detector wont pick up the signal until you cross in front of the radar vehicle. (Which would be the same time you get caught)
So as you can see that wouldnt be to useful.....On the bright side, if you are travelling in the opposite direction you will pick up the radar well in advance because you are travelling head on with the photo radar vehicle. (Too bad it doesnt matter since he is not going to take your picture no matter how fast you are going)
I have had a detector for many years and by far the most usefull time to have a radar detector is if you are on highway/freeways where the cops are using roaming radar in their vehicles as they drive. The detector can save you a pile of money and points in this situation. (If you speed)

04 Laser Red 6MT Coupe

 

Ok well i speed at least over 40 on every highway specialy the 401 and all the country roads I at least go 45 over on the way to grand bend but who doesent. And i was wondering if a radar detector would work in the rural settings or if it would be of any use???

 

Two cars ago I had a Dodge Stealth with a Valentine 1 hardwired in using power off the vanity light in the visor.
When I sold the car privately, the guy wanted it and so I sold it with the car, never replaced it and quite honestly I don't miss it all that much. (well, sometimes I do! haha)

My experience was that it worked best in rural areas and I often turned it off in the city -- way too many false alarms! Even in city mode with reduced sensitivity, the automatic doors from every shopping centre or grocery store would start my detector chirping wildly, and those falsies are mighty annoying! You also get them from other vehicles with detectors and even microwave ovens from fast food joints if your selectivity isn't set very narrow. A real pain to use in the city!

Anyway, I find that police on GTA highways seem to catch a lot of speeders by simply pacing them (especially speeders in the express who don't see the cruiser in the collectors, etc.), so the usefulness of detectors seems to be limited to speed traps. Well, I pretty much drive with the assumption that any rise, bend, or bridge on the highway is a potential speed trap, so I ease off when passing through one, or better yet let someone speed ahead of me and watch to see if his brake lights go off.

I also watch for Crown Vic or Impala headlights coming up fast behind me, then I ease off until I get a positive ID.

Anyway, if this was 1995 and we still had police using X and K band radar, maybe I'd get one again... but with police nowadays having VG-2's (which can sniff out your detector) I find that keeping your eyes open (and also not standing out too much) is still the best protection!



2004 G35C 6MT + Nav, Silverstone

 

Agree with the above. I was coming home from the cottage last weekend, say 130 in an 80 and strangely, a black car which appeared out of the rain and drizzle travelling the same direction as me, in front of me seemed to be going really slow (the speed limit, as opposed to 100 like everyone else does in an 80) So I slow up, and then he pulls off (so I get a good view of the antennas and lights in the tinted back window). For the next half hour, I had to drive 79 with this yoyo on my tail. (It's hard driving that slow btw, the steering is not weighted up enough). Not sure why he thought I would magically exceed the limit and provide him the opportunity to ticket me. Traffic piled up behind me, a young bimbo shot past the two of us, he launched after her, and while he had her pulled over (out of his car already), I scooted past doing 110 and waved to him and the girl.
He was all about pacing rather than radar. In 23 years of driving, I've only been pulled over twice with radar or laser (one each).
But, and this is a big but: If you're planning to travel at speeds that will cost you your license, with a careless, wreckless, or dangerous (think "I wonder how fast this baby will go?"), then the possibility of losing a detector is far preferred to losing your license. If the fine is 500 and the detector is less than that again, how does that compare to 5 years of elevated insurance and whatever else you can expect to ge thrown at you as a ticket?
Finally, I recommend that you leave the last week of the month alone, especially the last couple days. (For this reason, the forum should really reconsider when meets occur, since some of us have some travelling to undertake). I race motocross with one cop, have flown with numerous RCMP on board my aircraft (drug interdiction flights), and have worked for the past year with the OPP, Kingston PD and CFB Kingston military police in my currrent post. We talk at length about this stuff since they know I have the G, and they enjoy going fast just like we do. You really don't want to be speeding on long weekends and at the end of any month. Trust me on this one.

DB

 

Lots of the newer models Radar Detectors are actually stealth to VG-2 Radar Detector Detectors.