As I have posted here:
9500ci vs Valentineone , I truly believe that the Escort 9500ci Remote-Mount is redefining the standard of "raw sensitivity."
However - and this is in spite of the fact that I've
always been an adoring fan of Escort products - I think that it is only fair to say that this such a comparison, between the 9500ci and the V1, is just not quite fair, and that it is, in the end, apples-to-oranges.
The not inconsiderable price-gap aside, there is a fundamental difference in the way these products, simply, "are," and I think it is this very real and concrete concern that is the true one, here.
The 9500ci is an external-to-cabin, remote, mounted unit.
The V1, on the other hand, is an in-cabin stand-alone.
The latter is, no matter how it's cut, somewhat "handicapped" in terms of its detection capability simply by its placement.
The former, its price and relative difficulty of installation nonwithstanding, isn't something that, short of even
DRASTIC modifications by the end user (and believe me, I'm a self-wrenching auto-enthusiast, and short of messing with the ECU tune with anything more than a few little tweaks, I'm more than happy, and capable, of pretty much hacking up anything and everything), is going to be able to, at a moments' notice, taken off the windshield of one vehicle, and be used in another. Heck, even packing it into a suitcase or carry-on would be nearly impossible, for the business traveler - even if I were to shorten all the cable runs, rig a quick-disconnect 12V accessory plug for the in-vehicle control-module portions, and simply running the jammer head wires through the fender -to- A-pillar gap and the trunk pass-through.
To me, until Valentine Research comes forward with their own remote-mounted unit, I think that the only fair comparison to be made between their product, the V1, and the Escort offerings, would be with either their 9500i, or 9500ix in-vehicle, stand-alone detectors.
Don't get me wrong - I can and do appreciate these videos, which, I think, demonstrate on an academic level what is currently "state of the art" in terms of speed-detection countermeasures devices and their capabilities.
I love these videos.
It's just that I'd rather not have everyone think that it's a "versus" scenario.
To me, that's not being fair, either to Valentine Research, or to Escort.
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As for brother
category4's concern, as well as that of
SCGT's mention::
As a fellow end-consumer, I agree.
As a true top-flight product that is, furthermore, billed as a "custom" solution, I think that Escort/Bel should step forward to offer more options, in terms of configuring these products.
I would like to see more options, in terms of how the products are offered, to the end-consumer.
While I can understand that the two branches of the parent company would like to maintain their product's separate and unique nature, I also well see things from the perspective of my fellow hobbyists and enthusiasts. Not only is the not-insignificant cost of the ZR4 an issue for those who simply do not wish to use this appendage of the 9500ci, but to many, the lack of GPS-enabled capabilities for the STi-R is a turn-off as well.
Yet, certainly, I can see that perhaps in offering the 9500ci without the ZR4 would cut into Escort's profit margins (or would it - given that some people would then, even, buy more than one 9500ci?) and the possibility of having the STi-R too-in-common with its sister may cause come cannibalization of sales?
Hard to say, and I guess that, as a consumer, myself, I tend to only see one side of the equation.
Also,
category4 and
SCGT, my brothers, I do believe that there is an advantage to having both the ZR4 heads, as well as the LI's, on-vehicle at the same time.
While I am currently very cautious about recommending running BOTH setups AT THE SAME TIME, due to
potential cross-talk issues, I truly see value in both:
(1) Retaining the use of the ZR4, using the "Receive Only" mode, in order to maximize early-detection. The ZR4 is an *amazing* laser detector, and in so much as my Grandmaster used to say "it's just better to not be there for the punch/kick," I totally agree. I'd rather not have to run into the police LIDAR, having to rely on the protective capabilities of my jammer and other countermeasures - I'd rather just have shut-down-to-appropriate-speed *before* even entering the trap, and to a big extent, the ZR4 can be a great help in this respect.
(2) Having a viable backup. When and if the LIs ever fail to complete their boot-up self-check, you can simply switch to the ZR4, and still have some level of protection.
Certainly, this may be more, or less, acceptable to each individual vehicle owner/hobbyist, based not only on the dollar-amount they'd have to invest, but also, to an even greater extent, the amount of mounting space that's available for them to use (as more heads will, no matter how small they are, simply demand more real-estate), as well as the aesthetic compromise (and further planning that's necessary, if visually concealing the heads is of utmost need, for whatever reason) that comes with having additional heads.