Do Not Sell My Personal Information Jump to content


Radar detectors


Recommended Posts

I was travelling with a friend yesterday in his BMW 330 when I heard a beeping noise from his dashboard. He told me he had just bought a Snooper SD815is radar detector, and it had detected a speed trap, hence the beeping. I have always been a bit suspicious of the claims that manufacturers make on such items, this is because I owned a radar detector in 1997 and the only thing it could detect was traffic light cameras! Anyway, I was curious as to where this speed trap was, and I was totally amazed when we eventually came to 2 coppers hiding behind an unmarked transit van 2 MILES DOWN THE ROAD!:o:o:oI could not believe how this little gadget had picked up the speed trap from so far away. It also picks GATSO cameras up from about 100 yards.

It has convinced me that these are a worthwhile purchase as I already have 3 points for speeding (any more and I can expect a 50% rise in my insurance premium:mad:)

The cheapest I have seen on for is £199 including p+p from www.mcs-direct.co.uk which is a massive £100 off the RRP. I am ceratinly going to invest in one of these brilliant gadgets. I dont think £199 to save your license is bad. Have any of you guys got any opinions on them?? I would be interested to hear your views.

ps I know it probably sounds like I work for snooper after heaping so much praise on the thing, but I dont and it really is that good

:smilegrin::smilegrin::smilegrin:

Link to comment
Share on other sites


I have the same snooper in my car - it's pretty good. IMO, all snopper / radar devices suffer from some degree of false alarms - mine will pick up traffic lights, MWD door sensors etc etc. It's also no good for those new blue cameras that use sensors in the road.

I've been thinking about buying one of the new GPS devices, which has ALL the locations of all cameras programmed in it, along with a GPS sensor that know where you are - you update it by plugging it in your phone line. That plus the snooper will give warnings of all speed traps. I've heard good reports about the Origin Blue GPS unit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

it is not illegal at the moment but soon will be.

However i have been thinking of getting those ones where the radar is in the grill of the car and it bleeps through your radio... i have seen these about and the cops will never know unless they want to start pulling the grill apart.

What makes me angry is that they can slap more cameras up and fine us and we are not even allowed to protect ourselves with radar detection.

I mean... if they put cameras up to prevent speeding then why are they going to make radar detectors illegal

Money comes into this somewhere.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


They are trying to make radar detectors illegal, but a survey from a leading motoring organisation found out that drivers who use radar detectors are involved in 28% less accidents than those who don't.

Also they can never make the GPS type Gatso detector illegal as there argument for Gatso is that they prevent accidents, so if you have an early warning device to tell you that an “accident black spot” (read as road side theft area) is coming up than you are a safer driver!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They made radar detectors legal in 1998 in the UK when it was proved that they did not "tamper" with the signal sent out by laser speed traps or GATSO's. The police force's arguement was that the radar detectors somehow distorted the reading, which was of course a load of bo*locks. So this means I can avoid speed traps without fear of getting more points on my license:D:lol::D:P

On the plus side though, figures prove that car owners with radar detectors have fewer accidents. But then again, when were the police ever interested in reducing accidents if it meant losing out on revenue?!$!$!$!$!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ive been thinking in investing in one of these...but it seems like every time you buy one..a few months later they bring out a new speed trap that the gizmo wont detect..Ive got a lot of friends who have bought them & rely on them so much that they end up getting badly done for speeding.

I use my own method:

I use the force! :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Snoopers are nice and compact, but they suffer from false alarms, as all makes do. You learn to ignore the false alarms, though. I find the Snooper to be a little loud on the quietest setting - it would be better if it used ramped volume. Still, it's saved me a few times :P - worth the £170 from www.letsbuyit.com. I usually hardwire the unit to, say, the overhead light and put the unit at the top of the windscreen. Less obvious there.

By the way, aren't the blue cameras on A and B roads traffic sensors for TrafficMaster? They measure traffic flow, not speed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

By the way, aren't the blue cameras on A and B roads traffic sensors for TrafficMaster? They measure traffic flow, not speed.

I have both a Snooper and a Trafficmaster system in my car. Trafficmaster sensors are blue, but they're tall and thin and sit on what looks like a fairly tall lamp post. The blue speeding cameras are shorter and look a lot like Gatso (except they're blue), and have a large round lens facing traffic. They work by measuring speed across strips in the road.

It'd be worth your while learning to tell the difference!!:yes::yes::yes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Steve,

If you want to contact the chappy to arrange discount, he has set this up for Honda-R, I am sure he will for Team Lexus too. I bought the Bel Euro 550 and the Geodessy.

While these do not give a 'free reign to speed' as some authorities try to imply, they do at least give you some warning when you are entering the accident blackspot on the long wide open road going downhill no-where near a built up area....... especially when the visible deterant is obscurred by a matching grey bridge or over grown bushes.......

http://www.honda-r.org.uk/html/discounts.htm

http://www.networxautomotive.com/

If you go to our discounts page - and follow the 'click here' you will see the special rates. They do seem to be competitive. Not 100% sure cheapest - but certainly were when I bought mine 12 mths back.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

HI SORRY TO HI jack YOUR SUBJECT BUT I SELL RADAR DETECTOR AND THERE IS ONLY ONE TO HAVE AND THAT IS THE SNOOPER S5 DONT BUY ANY OTHER

AND DONT BUY FROM Halfords :flaming:THIS OF CORSE IS UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE PAYING TOP MONEY FOR ONE

THE S5 IS £349.99 IN HALFORD LAST TIME I LOOKED 9/5/02 AND YOU COULD SAVE £75+ ON THAT PRICE :o

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Radar detectors only pickup police if they are useing radar or laser (if your detector detects laser) it will not jest detect a police car marked or unmarked.

One other thing dont buy a radar detector from the us even if some tells you they work good because untill they try one made for europe.

I hope this is of some use to you

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Originally posted by ricky_is200

Does anyone else have an opinions on which one is best, or do you agree with the Snooper S5.

Do they pick up unmarked police cars? Thats how I got nicked!

I was recommended to my choices (last year) by a good friend who used to sell radar detectors, but who now concentrates on ICE - he suggested alternatives and discussed the pros and cons of each. The Snooper was what he himself used, he did say it gave more false alarms than the Bel - but was cheaper. He doesn't use the Snooper near where he lives as he knows where all the traps are, and he was sick of it's constant bleeping for other things. Given this, I decided that the Bel would be worth the extra money for me, as I don't want to end up with it just stuck in the glove box! However, just because it was best for me, doesn't mean it would be your choice..... I would suggest talking with someone you trust and try to get unbiased advice. Alternatively Auto Express test these sort of things and offer unbiased advice - check their website for past reviews and see what they say. I think there are also links to reviews on the Networx site - they sell both Bel and Snooper - so unless they get a bigger margin on one, I would hope unbiased, but the reviews should be from external magazine sites anyway......

At the end of the day though - don't buy these thinking that you can then speed worry free - you will never do this, and I doubt that in truth that is what you are after.......

Nothing can detect an unmarked car that is just following you to ascertain your speed.

These are just devices to keep you aware. Research has shown that people using them tend to actually drive slower, and also that users have 20% less accidents....... I think we should get insurance discounts for having them!!! :cool:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share



×
×
  • Create New...