Would love to hear what other people used and if you did any hidden installs on your XK's?

Thanks
Samy

 

I have built in K40 front and rear radar detectors and front end laser detector. The indicator lights are located in a trim piece immediately below the instrument panel. There are two blue lights - left for front and right for rear. Unless one knows right where to look for the antennas (pickup points) they cannot be located. This is the third Jaguar I have had a K40 installed in. They will pay your first speeding ticket; I know this to be true from experience.

It took the installer around 6 hours to install. I am well satisfied with unit and recommend it as opposed to hanging a unit on the windshield or velcroing to the dashboard. Their website is K40 Radar Detectors and Laser Jammers | K40 Electronics.

 

I hardwired in a Bel 995 up by the rear view mirror. The higher you mount, the longer the range.

Its a perfect fit, still can use the sun visor all the way and its almost invisible up there. Tucked the wire in around windshield edging and dash and ran it down to the driver side fuse panel.

Completely invisible install except for the unit itself up by the mirror.

Took about 30 min to install.

 

I'm on my 2nd Passport 9500ix. First got stolen and I didn't blink an eye buying a second... Darn good unit. Only wish I had the spare cash for the hidden version (9500ci) and laser shifters!

 

hi,

how is your Passport 9500ix mounted on your car? do you have a pic by any chance?


Thanks

 

In truth I use the factory suction mount, low near the center speaker.
My State makes big money off tickets, so bought the best I could afford (It is always a battle between the 9500 and the Valentine).
There is one strict rule about detectors to live by.... IF you get pulled over (they are not infallible) you stand a chance of a warning.... right up until they see the detector, which then guarantees you a ticket regardless. For that reason alone I will not do a permanent mount. I can reach forward with my right hand, pop the detector and mount off the glass, and unplug it in one swift move... all while getting ready to pull over...

A good book worth reading-> "A speeders Guide to avoiding tickets" by James Eagen. Explains the officers mentality, and why certain steps are critical...

 

I do the exact same thing..if they see the detector.. you are getting a ticket.
I have 4 Valentine one detectors..all can be pulled down and hidden in 5 seconds.

 

Cant go wrong with the hidden in dash Passport... I have the older SR7 with laser jammers. Here is a pic of the install - enjoy!

 

^ Nicely done!

 

Reading this thread yesterday got me off my **** to get protected in my new to me XK. In my G35 I'd used a Whistler XTR255 - cheapo unit that did a barely passable job. Time for an upgrade!

So after some research and finding a forum (imagine that - there's a radar detector forum!) Radar Detector Discussion - Radar Detector & Laser Jammer Forum - I picked up a BEL Pro300 from Best Radar Detectors, Top Reviews, Laser Detectors and Accessories for $249 plus $6 for a hard wire kit. They offer a discount for radardetectorforum members - in this case it was $50. Shipping is included. I couldn't come close to that deal anywhere else. They were very helpful on the phone and their site has a lot of useful info. Hope this helps some of you if you're looking for a new unit!

Two quick questions for the group:

Placement - In my Infiniti I put the detector on the bottom left corner of the windshield so it couldn't be seen if I did get pulled over but was still very visible to me. This also keeps it low on the car to aid laser detection, but can reduce range on radar. I know some of you have put it up around the rear view. Any opinions on what works better?

Wiring - in talking to best radar guys he mentioned that in most newer cars there are a lot of electronics in the rear view that you can tap into to power a unit. Has anyone here powered their detector that way or if you've hard wired have you always gone down to the fuse box?

Thanks!

Brian

 

Radarbusters.com is another good source of information and products.

Location: I personally think the shift to laser will eventually dominate the industry, even though my own local guys still use mostly KA.
A high mount offers extended range only when considering cresting a hill... As microwave is "line of sight", detection an oncoming or parked officer only sees the roof-line first, so the alert is a millisecond or two quicker. If your driving area is mostly radar, and not laser, then it makes sense to consider this.

Laser on the other hand is most commonly targeted at your license plate or headlights. A low mount places you in a better position to catch the laser wandering about.
Mine has alerted several times as they were tagging cars in front of me (the officer was easily over a mile up the road!), so I know it is capable of picking up scatter at a good distance.

In the end, I opted to stay with a low mount and sacrifice the extra millisecond in favor of fast dash removal and laser detection.

2cents
Vince

 

Clever - with the range on the Pro300 an extra tiny bit shouldn't be a big deal which is why I'm leaning toward lower left mount.

Laser is used in WI, mostly in Milwaukee County which I travel a lot but with so much traffic that I should be able to get splash. Not sure I wanna pop the $500ish plus install to get a laser jammer.

Ran across this info which I though quite useful! Hoping you can get to it without being a member there - RDF Geographical Survey - Radar Detector & Laser Jammer Forum

By clicking on your state you can get detail by county on what type of RADAR / laser enforcement uses so you can provide the appropriate countermeasures.

 

Valentine One - legal here, so it's mounted on the screen just above the mirror. I use a Road Angel Plus for speed-camera warnings and as a digital speedo; I also get warnings from my TomTom, but it's a bit 'polite', so the Road Angel's insistent beeping is more effective.

Mobile radar is pretty much unknown here, and most hand-held guns are laser. But there's a heavy reliance on fixed and mobile cameras, as well as time-over-distance systems that use plate recognition. So the Road Angel and TomTom are my best defence.

 

I use an Escort Solo 2--battery operated so no cord to deal with. I use the suction cup mount just above the center of the dash--easy to grab off if I get stopped. It uses 2 AA batteries that last about 4 months and you can see the battery level every time you turn it on (it turns itself off after 30 minutes of inactivity with a notification alert so if you forget to turn it off when leaving the car the batteries don't run down). As far as I can tell it works as well as some corded Escort models I also have mounted on my motorcycles.

 

I have the Passport 9500ci in my XKR, which is built-in and has front and rear laser jamming, red light camera warning, and other goodies. Expensive, but I've been very happy with it. Also have a Valentine One in my Porsche...works well but the warning sounds are rather annoying.

 

9500ci installed in the XKR with radar-mirror.com hidden display in the rear view mirror. The controller and LED are in the ash-tray.
I've had highway patrol looking all over inside my car for a detector to no avail - and didn't get a ticket!.

I actually do not like driving my other cars now as they do not have a detector installed!

 

Wait a sec...why are they stopping you?

 

LOL - good point! The biggest disadvantage to the Passport/ Escort line is lack of source direction indication.
He trailed me for ~10 mi randomly "popping" the radar. He pulled me over when I passed a semi at ~80.
I think the only reason I only received a warning is that he could not find the radar detector.

 

Do you happen to have a picture of your install? I am interested in doing the same exact thing as you but have no idea where to start.

Thanks a lot

 

I'm with Matt. I have the Bell 995 and it is awesome. I have one in all my trip cars. Mine is mounted as he did. I hard wired mine into the lighter port inside the glovebox.