Monday, February 16, 2009

Do you own a radar detector?



I can remember looking through the issues of my first Road and Track magazine at the wonderfully tempting ads of those sophisticated little boxes with lights and buzzers that would forever protect you from the dreaded speeding ticket. I could only imagine that anyone reading such a magazine obviously had some kind of cruise missile sitting in their perfectly organized garage. The kind of missile that would be painted in a high luster PPG, named “beluga caviar black”, sporting chromed logos with letters like P_O_R_S_C_H_E or intricate emblems with prancing horses. You clearly owned a car that was designed to be driven well past the limits posted on these highways. The only thing stopping you from exhausting every last bit of distance out of the gas pedal was the eventual overly expensive speeding ticket.
Car and Driver and many other publications started testing each of the most common detectors on the market. This was a supervised test to find which one really had the ability to find that officer before you came into contact with his radar gun. After the popularity started to rise with detectors, more and more manufacturers started showing up on the list of “best and worse”. There always seemed to be one manufacturer that ended up on the top of the list year after year. The prices also started to rise as new technologies where introduced and more sophisticated measures had to be implemented to prevent false alarms and detector-detectors. Then the advent of laser speed guns changed the way we felt about “safe speeding”. They required a new look at protecting yourself against an unwanted ticket. If you where shot with a laser gun, it was probably too late. Late means money….
Why do you want a radar detector? Are you promoting unsafe driving if you buy into the idea of owning such a device? Have you ever driven on I-75 in SW Florida? Have you crossed Alligator Alley? (possibly the best candidate road for no speed limit)
Escort has long been featured in the popular car magazines. I recently took a ride in a very fast car with the new Passport 9500ix and the abilities of today’s radar detectors are amazing. GPS now helps remember where false alarms are and helps log speed cameras. These pricey units can be the difference between a fun run to Key Largo or an expensive waste to St. Augustine. My Audi has the Passport 8500 and is considered by many to be one of the best radar detectors ever made. The red LED’s match my interior perfectly and it can sniff out a trooper from miles away. So I say, be safe but drive the way the car was intended, fast. ☺ I don’t believe in being unsafe so if you want to race go to a track. If you want to make good time buy an Escort. Cheers-

1 comment:

Tim said...

I own several, all Escort branded and love them. They are truly worth the initial investment.