theres a company online that will actually piece together a V1 into a rear view mirror. Its not cheap....... but damn is it clean. Look up something along with lines of "valentine custom rearview mirror BMW". Then all you do is take down your rearview mirror, put this new one up and hook the wires back up. It looks like a normal mirror besides the led portions bleeding trough, which is as stealth as you can get.

 

Here's a picture of the front sensor of the Bel RX75 Pro (the black thing under the screaming chicken). It is hardly noticeable but has a good "view" of the road ahead. There is a similar sensor on the back that mounts to the license plate screws.


And here is the control head inside the car. I didn't bother with the hidden LED setup because radar detectors aren't illegal here in Florida and I like the added information on the regular display (band identification, signal strength, number of signals, etc.)

 

Looks really clean, but you are kinda killing the range with the front sensor being down so low.

As far as mounting you want it up as high, and with as good as a view of infront and behind you as possible. Usually right around rear view mirror in most cars.

As far as radar detectors go k40's are good, i have owned one. I have owned the passport x2, which was also decent, but by far the best radar detector i have ever owned is the v1(valentine one). Get the unit, and the remote display, you can hide all the wires, and makes for a pretty clean install. It is the only unit around its price wieth 2 radar, and laser detectors, which is how you get the front, and rear protection. The arrows, really make this unit amazing. Then it also allows you to track up to 9 bogies.... Or cops, so if you pass a cop, and think its safe to speed, but another cop is sitting ahead? doesn't happen in the v1. Also has some of the best pop detection out there. I also dont know any other company that allows you to update your radar detector. I have my v1 hard installed in my Acura, since i put most of my miles on it, and speed more in that car then i do my ta, but i can easily throw it in the ta, if im going on a little road trip. I will knock on wood, but i have had 0 tickets in over 2 years of owning a v1.

If you are going to buy, check out valentine1.com, read some of the combat stories, and see all the features. Everyone that sees it in my car is amazed at how good it is.

Chris

 

just get a radar detector. get an expensive one too cause its not only tickets that cost you money your insurance does go up too. so add that all up and a radar detector is well worth it. they are legal here in michigan so i dont have to worry about that. it has saved me countless times

 

Unfortunately, there really isn't any place on the front of a T/A to mount a remote any higher. As far as laser goes, you want the sensor as close as possible to the target which is generally the most reflective part of the front end - the front tag if you have one, or the headlights. Firebirds have an advantage there - the headlights are closed (laser isn't used at night) and with no front tag there isn't much reflective surface up front. I haven't noticed any difference in detection range for radar compared to my wife's Envoy with Escort SR7 mounted high in the grille. There may be some difference but I certainly get enough warning anyway.

 

From what I have heard, you want to place the laser jammers as close to the license plate as possible, since the paint on the license plate is the most reflective part. I will post pics up of my beltronics rx75 plus later tonight.

 

I remember reading an article in a magazine a long time ago (I think it was C&D but that doesn't seem right...) where they did some trials trying different things on different cars to thwart laser.

They found a plain old Formula (LT1 style) - pop up headlights closed, no front plate, no fog lights, to be almost invisible to laser, well under all the other cars. If you think about it the base firebirds of that era really had nothing to reflect. Once they tossed on some high power lights (visible light filters) it was invisible. Drive by and no clocky invisible.

Far as detectors go, I have a hard time (just my .02) justifying spending a lot of money on one. Generally speaking if you aren't paying attention AND the cop is actually doing the work to use laser or instant-on... no detector will save you. Really they help as a reminder... or to catch lazy cops sitting with the gun on all the time... or to catch instant-on bouncing off other cars in traffic. So while I'll admit there are different quality levels, once you understand the limitations - the marginal utility of a $2,000 setup becomes pretty low compared to a solid $100-200 unit. I mean I'd love to have such a nice setup, but it'll be a long time before I could justify the costs with other things waiting to be bought.

Again, just my 0.02.

Also, the best advice I can give to standalone detector users, is to mount them on the dash far forward and by the pillar (not terribly visible from eye level outside of the car), run the power wire hidden and switched, and if you get pulled over, yank it down and stash it. Having it sitting there is NOT going to help your chances of getting a warning.

 

Yes, you're right...it is hard to justify the expense of a remote detector. Fortunately, I got mine without the so-called "required" professional installation (installed it myself) and it only cost about $500 - still not cheap but a lot better than $1500. I convinced "she who must be obeyed" by telling her that a normal detector might prompt break-ins but I'll admit that I like the clean look and I'm into gadgets.

I seldom drive more than 5-10 mph above the limit but I still like having a detector just to remind me to watch me speed every once in a while. I haven't had a ticket in 30 years so I guess I'm lucky.

 

I spent $120 on a Cobra detector at Best Buy almost three years ago and ,knock on wood, I haven't had any tickets since I got it. You still have to use commen sense though. A radar/laser detector is nothing more than a warning it is up to the driver to decide if you need to take your foot off the gas or not.