I'm seriously considering one of these then. Thanks for all the great info Gator! +1

 

Yesterday was a long tough day for me as my family and I laid my brother to rest. He passed away this past weekend. I spent the day at my parents, being strong for them and my son, fighting the sadness. My wife and I got back home around 11:00PM. That's when I realized that I had left my darn cell phone at my parent's. Damn.... I jumped back in the car and shot back down to my folks place, about 20 minutes South of home.

On the way back home (for the second time), I had taken advantage of the alone time to let some emotions out. I was approaching my exit, but I wasn't ready to go home. I wanted a little more time to myself so I drove right on by. I popped in my Eagles/Nickleback disc (one of my brother's favorites), cranked up my Bose system and continued to torture myself. There was little to no traffic and the highway I was on was smooth, dark and empty. I activated Sport Chrono mode and was rolling along pretty good, enjoying a twisty section, listening to loud music, thinking about my brother Dan and all of a sudden, "BLEEP! BLEEP! BLEEP! BLEEP! BLEEP! BLEEP! BLEEP!".

Oh no! That's the Laser attack sound and I'm in the middle of nowhere. There are no cars around me, I'm in a valley with little to no chance of experiencing a false signal. I look down and I realize I'm in deep ****, my speedo is showing a speed that is so close to triple digits that you could count the difference on one hand. I jumped on the brakes good and hard, looked at my 9500ci display and saw that it was a frontal laser attack. I started scanning the road ahead for the source, but it was dark as hell, no street lights, and I saw nothing but black. The detector went quiet and then, "BLEEP! BLEEP! BLEEP! BLEEP! BLEEP! BLEEP! BLEEP!" again.

Suddenly I see where it's coming from. A Connecticut State Trooper parked in the grass off the left shoulder, backwards with his driver side facing the road and his nose pointed the wrong way. Yup, he's got a damn laser gun in his hand and it's pointed right at me. I don't panic, I continue to slow. He's got me painted for the second time. I look at my speed, I'm now at 64, I double tap the MUTE button. I go by him and the detector goes quiet again, and then "BLEEP! BLEEP! BLEEP! BLEEP!BLEEP! BLEEP! BLEEP!". A glance at the 9500ci display confirms that this time it's from behind. He's nailing me for the third time, and he should be able to get a lock because I've disabled my shifters.

I wait anxiously, wondering, "Did the Passport work?" I'm thinking, "Well, if he painted me three times, that suggests he couldn't get a reading the first two times." I look in the mirror and I see nothing but the darkness, but then I see something ahead that sends a chill down my spine. A chaser off on the right shoulder. Sure, that makes sense. There is no way he could quickly pull a U turn to chase someone. The chaser has already got someone pulled over, but that won't stop him from giving me the point over. I watch him real close as I go by, he never even looks my way. Phew..... The 9500ci just delivered it's first save.

My heart is pounding and now I'm getting a little pissed, thinking, "WTF man...? Is it really necessary to run a speed trap at this hour?" I look down at the clock, it's 11:50PM. I mean come on. There are no cars out here. Who are you trying to save....?

After my little scare, I took it easy for a while. Then my disc switches to a Nickleback song, I'm feeling the influence of the music and I'm thinking, "Hmmm... It's late, and there are two staties back there, I bet the road ahead is wide open." So like a dope, I let her roll again. I'm up in the sticks and I'm ripping along pretty good. Maybe a little faster than before and suddenly, "BLEEP! BLEEP! BLEEP! BLEEP!BLEEP! BLEEP! BLEEP!". WTF man...? Are you kidding me....? I quickly find the source this time because my Bi Xenons are making some reflectors glow in the sticks up ahead on the right. Yup, another CT state trooper, this time perpendicular to me in between an on ramp and the right shoulder hidden behind some bare bushes, and guess what he's got in his hand? Yup, another laser gun and he's got me painted. I dive into the brakes firmly and shave off 40 mph pretty fast. My reflexes are faster this time because I still have a little left over adrenaline from the last attack. I'm able to double tap the Mute button and make my car visible before he lets go. He kept me painted for a long time, but only shot at me once. I'm not sure if his gun displayed anything at all, but I am sure it didn't display my speed or I would have gotten a beaten. I look down at the clock. It's 12:02AM.

I continued on for another 20 minutes or so and exited up ahead, about 40 miles from home. I found a Burger King where I picked up a bottle of water (drive in opened until 2), called a friend and talked for about an hour, then drove home. On my way home I was expecting to find my three new friends. Nothing. They were MIA, probably in some donut shop sharing stories about their nightly 'kills', and maybe talking about that red Porsche that they couldn't get a lock on.

I've got over 1,000 miles on my 9500ci now, and this was the first real laser hit I've experienced. I'm happy to report that it delivered the same results that my SRX does, and my goal has been realized, my Cayman is now invisible.

The best part, my brother Danny would have been laughing his **** off. He never was a fan of the police. Here's to you Dan.

My Passport saved me from two tickets in 12 minutes and paid itself off in ~1,000 miles. Watch out my fellow Nutmegers. The Connecticut State Police have gone laser crazy. I mean come on. Shooting laser late wednesday night, on a quiet two lane highway in the middle of nowhere?!? You guys suck!

 

Unbelievable install - congrats! I've been running my Blinder M40 for over 90,000 miles on my M5 and haven't had a rear laser yet. I'm thinking of just removing the modules in the rear and using them on my Cayman. Have you heard of or experienced anyone getting hit from behind?

 

Just happened to me a few days ago. And that wasn't the first time. I was shot from behind once by a cop on an overpass. There was no way to see him ahead of time.

 

Have you gone out and actually tested the lidar defense yet?

It's a beautiful install but you can't be confident that it works till you actually test it. With multiple guns and shooting at various weak spots on the car (headlights, mirrors, etc).

I will bet you a frosty beer I get punch throughs on the back so bad it will seem you're not even running anything back there Although the tag is a shooting point, the tail lights are incredibly reflective. As well as the 3rd brake light. One LED head in the low middle isn't going to do it. I've tested a K40 setup like that it and it was weak. I've also tested two different Blinder setups with 2 rear heads and you would have guessed their units weren't even turned on


I am getting more an more intrigued by the Escort's radar capabilies though. I just wish they had the damn arrows! I got whacked this morning on the way back from church with Ka from behind. It went from nothing to full strenth instantly. I still haven't figured out where he was. Probably buried in a driveway somewhere where he couldn't be see on the approach. You're going to slow down either way, but I get a sense of comfort knowing where the LEO is.

 

Awesome install, and that's a great story, lol

 

One thing that occurs to me as I read all of this...why not just do the speed limit? Wait until you're on some rural back country road somewhere to fool around. This way, you don't have to worry about any of this...you don't have to buy it, you don't have to install it, you don't have to worry if it works or not. And you'll be safe. Because you aren't doing anything wrong, you'll be able to enjoy the time you have with your car a bit better as well. Ok, let's have it...just no rocks, only veggies and fruit .

J

 

Yawn.....

 

No, I haven't actually had a chance to test it yet. I've been looking for a lidar gun but they're not that easy to come by. Once I get my hands on one, I'll test it as well as possible.

I try brother, but I'm just not as strong as you. I secumb to temptation from time to time. I try to keep it within ten of the limit, but when you drive a car that can go from zero - suspended license in 9.7 seconds, trying isn't always enough. It's nice to have a little extra protection. In fact, I find my car far more enjoyable now that I have a little piece of mind.

 

Awesome install Gator... I am probably going to use your write up as a guideline to my own install of the 9500ci. Do you happen to have pics of where the actual brains of the unit (where in the fuse box did you tap into for power) is and where and how you routed all the wiring?

Thanks!

Matt

 

Yes, I have a lot more info. Too much for a post though. I'll PM you some more.

 

Thanks a bunch for that! Positive rep for you for the info.

 

Thanks man. I appreciate that.

 

What is the difference between the 9500i, 9500ci, and 9500ix ??

 

The three 9500 series products that you mentioned all belong to the same family of GPS enabled radar detectors. That means they all have the TrueLock false alarm filtering.


9500i (~$499)


The 9500i is Escort's first GPS enabled detector.

• The GPS technology allows it to memorize false alarms (True Lock)
• The 9500i has a Red LED display
• Compatible with ZR3 / ZR4 shifting systems

9500ix (~$599)




The 9500ix is an enhancement of the 9500i. It does everything the 9500i does plus:

• Includes the Trinity Database of traffic camera locations so it can alert you if you are approaching a red light or speed camera
• Includes 90 day subscription to database updates ($30 for three years after that)
• AutoLearn that learns/unlearns false alarms for you
• Speed Variable Sensitivity in Auto Modes
• Blue LED display
• PC Flashable for database and firmware updates

9500ci (~$1,599 + Installation)




This is a custom installed unit that has the features of the 9500ix plus:

• M3 dual aperture antenna. This antenna is 50-80% more sensitive and completely invisible to all Radar Detector Detectors on the planet. This antenna makes the CI the most sensitive radar detector money can buy.
• ZR-4 Laser Detecting/Shifting system included.
• 3 Year Database Subscription included.
• Custom installable layout for clean, neat, out of sight integration.