Radar Detector - Escort Max 360 with ARROWS

[bmw-nj]

I have been using the a Escort Max for over a year and it has worked well.

I was just reading Motortrend magazine and apparently there's a new Escort Max 360 with arrows.

Has anyone heard anything about this or used it?

The V1 was always known for the arrows which was a huge advantage and now it seems Escort has leveled the playing field.

[The Wind Breezes]

As a radar detector user and extreme offender of traffic laws, I never found any use whatsoever from directional arrows. They're a gimmick. You're never going to have someone shoot radar at you from the side and it wouldn't accurately measure your speed even if they did. As for getting gunned from behind, you really should be paying frequent attention to your rearview since a cop could pace you without any radar warning at all. Finally, once you have the experience to make good use of a detector, you can tell whether a signal is in front or behind very quickly. Speeding and getting away with it has about a 80% / 20% brain-to-detector ratio.

[TXSTYLE]

Originally Posted by The Wind Breezes

As a radar detector user and extreme offender of traffic laws, I never found any use whatsoever from directional arrows. They're a gimmick. You're never going to have someone shoot radar at you from the side and it wouldn't accurately measure your speed even if they did. As for getting gunned from behind, you really should be paying frequent attention to your rearview since a cop could pace you without any radar warning at all. Finally, once you have the experience to make good use of a detector, you can tell whether a signal is in front or behind very quickly. Speeding and getting away with it has about a 80% / 20% brain-to-detector ratio.

VERY well said! And I agree 100%. If I get a hit, I ease down and drive the limit until threat is no longer audible or visible by my BEL Pro 500. And YES, I have sampled the V1. Solid and among the best detectors. But not THE best.
This new 360 is intriguing indeed...

[bmw-nj]

My issue with the V1 is the lack of a gps lockout feature. I had one a few years ago and around town it was worthless as it would produce false alerts constantly.

I agree that a radar detector alone is obviously not the end all be all however arrows on the highway are a nice feature.

[tony20009]

Originally Posted by bmw-nj

I have been using the a Escort Max for over a year and it has worked well.

I was just reading Motortrend magazine and apparently there's a new Escort Max 360 with arrows.

Has anyone heard anything about this or used it?

The V1 was always known for the arrows which was a huge advantage and now it seems Escort has leveled the playing field.

Why it took Escort over 30 years to put some arrows on their detectors is beyond me, but I'm glad they finally did. Perhaps I'll trade in my Passport Max (PMax) for this new gizmo. I can't tell you how often when my PMax goes off the first thing in my mind is, "Where is the cop/radar coming from?"

I'm very satisfied with my PMax but for two things:

• The display is nearly invisible in bright sunlight, and it is invisible if I have on sunglasses while trying to look at it. I have the blue display. If the "guts" of the new version are essentially the same as those in the PMax, you'll love the new one, I think.
• Escort's "new and improved" sticky cup is decent, but if it's left affixed in the hot sun, it will fall off. If the "sticky" part gets dirty, it's not very sticky at all until you clean it. Keep some Windex (or something like it) and paper towels in the car.

I have used a V1 too and from what I can tell it works just as well as the PMax. It's displays are far more legible and the arrows are incredibly useful. I find that when the thing goes off and the arrows are pointing to the side, I know immediately where to look and doing so tells me whether it's a cop perhaps sitting in a parking lot with his radar on, but not otherwise remotely about to come after me, or whether it's a stationary radar from, say, a shopping center, etc.

My Escort is better than the V1 at not going off due to things like door radars, but then when there's a door radar around, the arrows on the V1 point to them, so I don't mind much. A recent annoyance is cars that have "automatic cruise control." The feature uses radar and it will set off either detector. On the highway, you definitely don't want to be around a driver using their auto cruise feature. Check out the Escort forum for more info on these things. Cars that can park themselves also use radar.

• Escort Forum: http://escortradarforum.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=11485
• Escort Forum discussion about adaptive cruise control: http://escortradarforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=224
• Impact on radar detector by cars that use radar for various things:
  • http://spectator.org/articles/57295/...radar-detector
  • https://www.reddit.com/r/cars/commen...adar_detector/
  • http://ericpetersautos.com/2013/11/1...s-nov-13-2013/

One word to the wise re: Escort. If you ever have to call for customer service, call the sales number not the customer service number. You'll be on hold for 10 minutes or more on the cust. svc. line. That was my experience with them.

Lastly, I strongly suggest getting a laser jammer installed at some point. Radar is relatively easy to defeat if you aren't the only car around. Laser is essentially impossible to defeat unless you have a jammer; when a cop targets you with laser, and you're speeding, you're one of two things -- lucky or f*cked -- and which you are depends entirely on the cop.

All the best.

[claykin]

Originally Posted by tony20009

Why it took Escort over 30 years to put some arrows on their detectors is beyond me, but I'm glad they finally did.

Valentine had a patent on the arrows. That patent recently expired.

Valentine has a new patent received in August whereby he arguably improves on the expired patents arrow design. Many are expecting a new V1/V2 coming very soon.

http://www.google.com/patents/US9110149

BTW, there are V1 phone apps (official and unofficial) that permit more control of the V1 using the devices serial protocol. Few know about these apps, but they're quite useful. Here's one.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...kyl.yav1&hl=en

[bmw-nj]

Originally Posted by claykin

Valentine had a patent on the arrows. That patent recently expired.

Valentine has a new patent received in August whereby he arguably improves on the expired patents arrow design. Many are expecting a new V1/V2 coming very soon.

http://www.google.com/patents/US9110149

BTW, there are V1 phone apps (official and unofficial) that permit more control of the V1 using the devices serial protocol. Few know about these apps, but they're quite useful. Here's one.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...kyl.yav1&hl=en

Valentine seems to be the slowest moving company. The fact that the V1 never got GPS lockout is a joke.

[claykin]

Originally Posted by bmw-nj

Valentine seems to be the slowest moving company. The fact that the V1 never got GPS lockout is a joke.

It has GPS lockout via the Android app I linked to.

I'd trade GPS lockout for better overall detection and reporting (especially laser detection) any day. Sorry. BTW, I NEVER use a detector in town. Really no reason with our traffic. Plus, I prefer to listen to music rather than beeps and braps. I use a detector when on road trips, GPS lockout is unimportant with my use.

Not trying to start an argument. Reality is Escort/Beltronics (whatever you want to call them) has chased Mike Valentine/Jim Jaeger's designs all the way back to Cincinnati Microwave days. They couldn't do it with detection, so they threw in selectivity (GPS stuff) to find another angle. Whatever works for you, I say.

[HoustonRider]

Personally I think all the GPS, arrows, multi-color choices, etc take away from the purpose: finding radar before it finds you.

Ive had several Escorts and my most recent (for the last 4 years) has been the Redline. I've tuned /locked out some of the unused frequencies and I'm getting hits 4500+ft away if not further.

I am watching the frequencies pop up as well, so I know if it's a threat or not. It has never ever let me down.

Sometimes I think it's wrong and in a minute or two (at highway speeds) I will find the threat.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by The Wind Breezes

As a radar detector user and extreme offender of traffic laws, I never found any use whatsoever from directional arrows. They're a gimmick. You're never going to have someone shoot radar at you from the side and it wouldn't accurately measure your speed even if they did. As for getting gunned from behind, you really should be paying frequent attention to your rearview since a cop could pace you without any radar warning at all. Finally, once you have the experience to make good use of a detector, you can tell whether a signal is in front or behind very quickly. Speeding and getting away with it has about a 80% / 20% brain-to-detector ratio.

This is the way I think about the arrows. I can't imagine doing anything other than slowing down for a bit when the thing goes off unless it is clearly a false alarm.

[upstatedoc]

Arrows increase your situational awareness if you're interested in that kind of thing..

That being said, I run a Redline/V1 combo with the V1 off and turn it on if I want to know where the signal is coming from. Segmented Redline blows my V1 out of the water in terms of sensitivity.

[tony20009]

Originally Posted by The Wind Breezes

As a radar detector user and extreme offender of traffic laws, I never found any use whatsoever from directional arrows. They're a gimmick. You're never going to have someone shoot radar at you from the side and it wouldn't accurately measure your speed even if they did. As for getting gunned from behind, you really should be paying frequent attention to your rearview since a cop could pace you without any radar warning at all. Finally, once you have the experience to make good use of a detector, you can tell whether a signal is in front or behind very quickly. Speeding and getting away with it has about a 80% / 20% brain-to-detector ratio.

The point of knowing the radar signal comes from one's side is so that the driver can know that the radar signal that's set off their detector isn't one about which they need to worry, not so they can slow down for a signal coming from the side. Moreover, if the signal is coming for one's side, it's still a good idea to look and see if it's from a cop car. A cop car in that parking lot can easily become a cop car that's managed to sneak up behind you. It'd be nice to know there's one in the vicinity, even if it's just one sitting in the 7-11 parking lot having a doughnut.

Red:
How, pray tell, is one going to know the signal is coming from behind rather than from in front of one, or any other direction for that matter, save perhaps on a one way street? Say your driving on the interstate and your detector with whatever X-miles of range it has goes off. Without the arrows, how do you know it's not a cop behind you somewhere going after someone (hopefully someone else) or a cop a couple miles down the road in front of you, or even a cop on the opposite side of the interstate tagging a driver not even going in the same direction as you?

All the best.

[Kzang]

I may be a minority here but I disliked V1 due to so many false alerts... Used it for 4+ years and finally got rid of it for $250... I picked up a Escort passport max and loved the detection and the false alert lockouts but hated the flimsy construction. The housing felt like a cheap plastic toy. Eventually the detector started to shake from the windshield mount and loosen the housing / casing. I wish that V1 would update their detector with GPS lockouts or Escort build their detectors with a more solid housing / casing i.e. V1's magnesium construction.

[bmw-nj]

Originally Posted by Kzang

I may be a minority here but I disliked V1 due to so many false alerts... Used it for 4+ years and finally got rid of it for $250... I picked up a Escort passport max and loved the detection and the false alert lockouts but hated the flimsy construction. The housing felt like a cheap plastic toy. Eventually the detector started to shake from the windshield mount and loosen the housing / casing. I wish that V1 would update their detector with GPS lockouts or Escort build their detectors with a more solid housing / casing i.e. V1's magnesium construction.

I have an Escort Max and the mount is terrible!!! I replaced mine with the new magnetic mount. 10000% better and Escort will fix it for free if you give them a call.

[TXSTYLE]

I've been running a BEL and or Escort product since I've been driving and that's been since late 80s.I am BEYOND satisfied with their products, customer support and reputation. I have the BEL PRO 500 and the GPS, sensitivity, lack of falsing, construction, and fit & finish has caused me not to go to the Max. It is just that damn good! Be it front, rear or side, it and my prior RX65 has served me very well and danged me more money and tickets than I can count over the course of two decades.
That's my $. 02... Sirens it wisely.

[The Wind Breezes]

Originally Posted by tony20009

How, pray tell

Based on the strength of the signal, what it does as you continue forward, and also based on your evaluation of where you think it's most likely to be coming from taking into account what you see and the speed of travel. As long as you're vigilant in the rearview and see no police, potential signals from the rear become of greater diminishing importance the faster you go.

To clarify: a sudden, strong signal is most likely to be in front as long as you've got a good mental picture of the traffic behind you, don't see any police behind you, and are going reasonably fast. It's probably important to mention also that most if not all radar detectors have a directional antenna (feed horn) and it has by far the most sensitivity facing forward. This does some of the filtering work for you, raising the threshold for the detector to find less important signals. Caution, this fact may further diminish the prestige of the Valentine arrows. Anyway, you can further classify forward signals into oncoming, stationary, and mobile. Oncoming signals may have a long low strength detection time, sharply ramping up, then down and quickly off. Stationary signals are similar but with a less sharp ramp. Mobile signals, or radar from a vehicle traveling the same direction as you, but in front of you, will have your detector going mad for a while as your exposure to the signal will be the least brief.

How you react to what you think is a legitimate forward signal is up to you. There are really only three things you can do: slow down, speed up, or do nothing. While there may be some debate about which of the last 2 is dumber, there is no debate about the best way to slow down. Do it as quickly as possible, and make sure you slow down to a legal speed! Once I was well in the triple digits and received notice of a moderate and increasing radar signal. I slowed down in time, but still passed the cop doing 15 over (felt like 15 under), and got the ticket.

Finally, instant on used wisely will defeat even the best radar detector. You need to know when and where you can most safely speed to bring the odds into your favor. And as far as LIDAR goes, jammers work like magic, but may be illegal in your state and you still may get pulled over if the officer knows about jamming and / or you were obviously going too fast.

[upstatedoc]

MSRP: $649.99

They are taking preorders now with shipping in mid October.

Count me out until I see this thing tested..

[danniexi]

i've been using my old X50 for YEARS and haven't found the need to upgrade it as it works totally fine. what @TheWindBreezes said was absolutely correct... it all boils down to common sense.

1. don't use it in town.
2. know what bands the LE use around your area. here in NJ/NY, it is pretty much exclusively Ka band. if the detector goes off, no matter in what direction, SLOW DOWN. X band or K band, you can pretty much ignore.
3. if you get hit by a laser, you fucked.

i've been driving with these rules in my mind for years and haven't gotten a single ticket. the only time I have gotten pulled over was when i WASN'T using the radar detector. luckily I have a Benevolents Association card with me as backup.

that being said, the only time i will actually upgrade is when my current detector fails/breaks on me.

[iride4u]

In my car I use a Escort Max 2 and on the BMW K1600 I use a V1 because I can't get the Escorts to sync through my helmet. In town I regularly turn off the V1 as it can't be muted when used through a helmet.
I will not be getting the Max 360 as I don't want to be distracted by the arrows.

[TXSTYLE]

Originally Posted by upstatedoc

MSRP: $649.99

They are taking preorders now with shipping in mid October.

Count me out until I see this thing tested..

I am a diehard BEL supporter and customer. BUT... Fuk that! Unless it's picking up a "new form of radar that is about to be released that my current BEL or other detectors can't detect, that is absurd.

[upstatedoc]

Originally Posted by iride4u

In my car I use a Escort Max 2 and on the BMW K1600 I use a V1 because I can't get the Escorts to sync through my helmet. In town I regularly turn off the V1 as it can't be muted when used through a helmet.
I will not be getting the Max 360 as I don't want to be distracted by the arrows.

pic of V1 motorcycle mount?

[iride4u]

Originally Posted by upstatedoc

pic of V1 motorcycle mount?

I have a shelve on my K1600 and have mounted the V1 to it with 3M Heavy Duty. It is a super strong type of Velcro. I run the sound through a J&M CB.
This is the new mount.

This is the old mount.