After researching both the Passport 8500 X50 and the Valentine One, I ordered a V1 with the concealed display. I'm wondering if anyone has pics of the concealed display installed. I did a search but didn't find anything. I'm thinking of mounting the detector over the mirror and putting the concealed display in the area between the steering wheel and message center. That will unfortunately stop me from using the tilt wheel but I haven't moved it since I've set it anyhow. Anyone have any pics, or better suggestions for where to mount the display???

 

Wouldn't putting it above the mirror reduce it's effectiveness because of the black pony and dots?

 

not at all....the v1 is soooo strong. my friend has it and i got to use it for 4 days and i was shocked how amazing it is. worth the money?? yes....and the concealed display, u can put the actual unit above the mirror and hardwire it all and its completely out of view but still functioning....i can get pix of the concealed display if ud like.

my friend has this setup on his 02 GT

about mounting it....on the steering column or in front of the tach, its small enough

 

id be interested in seeing this to, please post the pics.

I used to have the Passport SR1 in my 99 Stang. Best Radar i had. Now i'm waiting for Beltronics to release a hidden version of their new STI model. No more VG2 and Spectre problems.

i got caught by a spectre once. But because i had the display unit concealed behind a cd case, he couldn't find it. lol.
He even said to me "just so me where you wired it, i won't give you a ticket"...yea right...lol..
anyway he let me go and told me, he be waiting for me, on my way back down.

 

I was wondering about that myself, and I'll ask them at valentine, but it didn't seem to make a differnce with the Passport that I hardwired in and sold with my '02 stang. I wish ford hadn't deleted the tint band at the top of the windshield - it hid the detector pretty well. As for the concealed display, I made a template and it looks like it'll fit over the wheel under the center of the gauge cluster. I will post pics when I get it in.

 

Mounted my V1 to the right of the decal and as high as I could get it, where it has a clear shot out the back window and where I can quickly grab it and put it under the seat when stopped.

Read awhile back that you do not want to mount it behind any decal that has any metallic in it....I have tinted windows (not the front ) and made sure the tint I used was just tint without anything that would interfer with the detector.

That is why V1 and Escort tell you if you have an old Ford with the instant defrost front window it will not work....metallic was used in those windshields.....

Some will say that their V1 or Escort is the best and so powerful that it does not matter, but it does to the radar manufacturers and the design engineers.

After you install your detector if you want more protection for highway driving then you will need a CB and then a Bearcat scanner from Uniden.

Hope that helps.

 

I received and installed the V1 about a week and a half ago and from what I can tell the dots on top of the windshield don't hinder the performance at all. I've already picked up three different Ka band traps and the range is excellent. The pics of the install are attached.

The V1 system consists of the main unit which can be powered from your cigarette lighter or hardwired in to the vehicle electrical system, plus an optional concealed display. I went the hardwire route w/concealed display, the install details of which (w/pics) are provided below.

I used velcro on the detector and the windshield to hold the main unit in place above the mirror and a bit to the right, which gives a clear shot up high to the front and rear, then I pulled out the dome light and ran the wire across the windshield header, down the passenger pillar, and into the fuse box area. The fuse box is in the lower footwell area to the right of the passenger's foot - pull off the cover, then remove the second interior cover that hides the fuses, and tap in for power. I *think* I used fuse 12 which was a switched fuse that was mounted in an easy to access spot in the fuse box. It may even have been the radio fuse, but it's really not important which one you use as long as it's switched so it powers the detector on and off when you start/stop the car.

After tapping in to the fuse panel, I pulled off the rest of the lower kick panel to find a good ground. To remove the lower kick panel you first need to pull up the forward section of the rocker sill cover inside the passenger door area, then you can pull out the rest of the kick panel trim. Once that's removed you should clearly see the instrument panel mounting bolt - loosen the bolt, attach the ground, and then test the detector with the switch on and off to ensure you have a good ground and connection. You can then reinstall the kick panel trim and proceed to wiring the concealed display.

I initially installed the concealed display in the lower panel area to the left of the radio. It was well concealed, but I found it was a bit hard to notice in day light. I didn't like it because the concealed display keeps the main unit completely dark, and since I tend to listen to my music loud, I need to be sure that I can clearly see the visual warning. I later moved the unit to the top of the steering wheel under the speedo - cops (and theives) will see it if they're looking in the car, but it's easy to remove in a hurry or you could cover it up with a paper or post it note if you needed to.

Wiring from the concealed display was easy. There's a wiring harness running along the floor above the passenger's feet. After plugging the concealed display wiring into the power supply that I just hardwired, I simply threaded the cord around the existing harness, routed it behind the radio, and snaked it up under the steering wheel. Then I velcro'd the display under the speedo, attached the wire, and tilted the wheel up to hold it all firmly in place.

The concealed display keeps everthing on the main unit completely dark so that no one following can see that you're using a detector. All the warnings are displayed on the concealed display and you can mute the warning from either the main unit or the concealed display, plus w/the display mounted on the wheel it's in perfect line-of-sight while you're driving. No missed alerts in this location!

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A few more pics, the last one a shot from behind showing the stealt view from back. You can still see the detector if you look, but it's a lot better than the telltale hanging coiled cord.
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Well of course those dots won't interfere with radar. What they will interfere with is laser. And considering the only thing the V1 is marginally better at than the 8500 X50 is laser, I'd put it where it can most effectively pick up laser.

That's a no brainer.

 

Probably true, but everything I've read about laser says that you really can't beat it. It's aimed precisely and the beam is very narrow so there's very little scatter or refraction to pick up. If your laser detector goes off you've basically gotten an early indicator that you've gotten yourself a ticket.

Can you also post a link to the V1 vs. 8500 X50 test results? The only credible print source I've seen is the 5 year Car and Driver test of the V1 against the 8500 (not the newer X50). All the other reports I've seen have been basic feature descriptions, not instrumented tests. One source claimed to have test results but they wanted you to *buy* them I was suspicious that it might be either a scam or a rigged test. Of course, every manufacturer is going to say their tested are unbiased and their detector is the best, but IMHO the V1 is the standard - it's the detector that everyone compares themselves to an, and the one which everyone claims to be able to beat.

 

Off the top of my head

http://www.radartest.com/article.asp?articleid=9090

As a note, the V1 has remained relatively unchanged for a numbers of years now, and lacks many features and settings that the 8500 X50 has. I've picked up KA from over 2-3 miles away.

As far as if your picking up laser you already have a ticket, no. Laser works like any other light source, even with it being very narrow there is still refraction and blow through of the beam ( windows, edging the target, etc ) unless the laser is absolutely still. Thus, giving an oppurtunity to pick up said stray beams. Most speedtraps I've seen, the cop is dimwitted enough to leave his front and rear KA units on while he is using his hand held laser.

That said, 2 mile or greater warning from my X50 has saved me quite a few times in the past.

The V1 that I had the oppurtunity to use for a while was around 2 years old, and was noisy, lacking adjustments, possesed a great deal of false positives, lacked band adjustment, and fairly archaic looking otherwise.

The fact that you can't even turn off X band on the V1, and it only shows the strongest signal, not all signals is annoying.

I've been past a few speed traps with cops running antique X band or K band guns "mucking" up signals for radar detectors, ie, you might not pick up the Ka band til it's too late and you ignored the X and K band because they were most commonly used by automatic doors.
The 8500 X50 shows signal strength and type for up to 8 different signals, and allows for adjustment, ie, turning off of X band and K band detection as well as any other band. I personally have X turned off, as no one uses X anymore save for the above case that I encountered. I leave K band on since a few county mounties still run that as primary detection.

Radartesters does want you to buy the full reports, which go into greater detail on the tests, but the overall findings are free.

 

I pretty much leave it in Advanced Logic mode and don't have an issue with X band false alarms. They'll come through when the signal's strong enough but it isn't any more annoying to me than other detectors I've owned. I simply mute it and keep my eye on the number of signals it's tracking and the strength. If it indicates K or Ka on the display or via the differentiating audio alerts, I pay attention; otherwise it's clear sailing. Absent the full report, I think the choice really is a personal preference at this point - I've seen and touched the Passport X50 and I didn't like it at all. I thought it looked and felt cheap - just my opinion - and it didn't offer the mounting options I wanted. The V1 is shorter and fits well in the area of the mirror, and the concealed display also fit perfectly above the steering wheel in the Mustang.

The thing that really convinced me to buy the Valentine though is the fact that they will never be obsolete. You can always have a V1 upgraded to the latest and greatest version. What happens to the Passport X50 next year? What about people who bought the Passport 8500? They had to trash their detector and buy a new X50.

And good luck trying to get your money back on a Passport 8500 or X50. Search ebay for a used V1 and you'll see they still sell for nearly full retail. In contrast, brand new X50 are already heavily discounted by Ebay resellers and are available day in and day out for $70-$80 under retail. With that type of price cutting on new units, you'll be taking a big hit when or if you decide it's time to get serious and buy the best.

 

The X50 has been out for a while now. KA, X, K, and common radar types will not change enough to merit an new unit. The X50 has POP detection which is the only difference between it and the 8500 I believe, besides new features and user customization.

Yes, you can get upgrades from V1, but have fun with that. A few radar forums I'm on have people screaming about the new V1 software "J"ing out signals.

And there is no such thing as an X band false alarm. Any detection of X band is simply an automatic door, same with "most" K bang pings, Walmart, Walgreens and Target are 3 large retailers that all use K band.

The option to completely turn off both of these depending on your conditions is nice.

The 8500 X50 also has different mounting methods, I have mine hardwired into my dome light and the mute button mounted down low where it is easy to reach.

And I'll gladly upgrade to the newest Escort series once there is the need to do so, likely with newer methods of detecton on the horizon coming over from Europe.

I expect Ka to be the primary detection method for the next good 5 years however. Until then I'll be headache and ticket free.

 

Escort 8500 X50 has better laser detection than the Bel Vector 995.
Where's the best spot to mount a X50 in the GT?