Redflex speed camera watches westbound lanes of U.S. 60 in Mesa, Arizona. Two dozen of these photo-enforcement cameras and 40
mobile photo radar vans wrote 30,000 tickets during their first full month of operation. The governor said she hoped to generate $100 million the first year. Then she left town to become the new director of
Homeland Security.
Updated 3/13/2010
The GPS-enabled radar detector market segment is too new to
have
acquired a body of field-test reports. That's no surprise as these models are extraordinarily difficult to test unless you 1) Are an expert on speed cameras and, 2) Have two
$90,000
photo radar vans and a pair of $150,000 (installed price, each) red light or speed cameras at your disposal.
But with 20 years of hands-on speedcam background, we probably qualify as experienced hands at this subject. And we know where to acquire the equipment, never
mind how. Once suitably armed, we spent seven months systematically testing each model of detector against every type of threat.
We later tested the accuracy and comprehensiveness of each manufacturer's camera data base, checking to see how long it took before new locations were noted and whether they were marked accurately. (We found some
significant
variations in the quality of the Escort and BEL Defender database versus the rival Cobra Aura speed- and red light camera database.)
Testing against conventional police radar was comparatively easy. We did this at our desert test sites northwest of Phoenix where we create real-world, worst-case
radar
ambushes in a mix of hills and curves on a desolate highway. At a second test site we checked maximum radar-detection range, making certain that each detector
warned miles
in advance of each radar gun.
Check out the features table below, then scan the test results to compare the performance of each. (To go directly to the detailed review of a model, click on its name
below.)
BEL GX65
Cobra XRS R9G
Cobra XRS 9950
Escort Passport 9500ci
Escort Passport 9500ix
| Standard Features |
|
|
|
|
|
| Mfr's Suggested Retail Price
|
$469 |
$1599 |
$499 |
$380 |
$369 |
| Visual Band Identification |
|
|
|
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|
| Audible Band
ID |
|
|
|
|
|
| Radar Frequency Counter |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| Digital Signal
Strength Display |
|
|
|
|
|
| Voice Alerts |
|
|
|
|
|
| Menu-selection voice confirmation |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| GPS latitude/longitude display |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
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| |
|
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|
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| |
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| |
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| Remote Control/Display |
|
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|
|
The first test was at our Straightaway test site, a no-brainer. It's a series of 3-mile-long and almost perfectly flat
straightaways linked by plunging downhill S-curves at low-water crossings where it intersects the same river several
times over the course of 10 miles. (Bridges are uncommon on secondary roads in the Southwest. Most rivers remain dry
51 weeks out of the year, leading road builders to run the pavement right through the stream beds. Wood posts marked
in inches are thoughtfully provided as depth gauges.)
In past years only big-dollar radar detectors could sniff out all of our radars from the limit of this site, some 5.3 miles
from the radar vehicle. That's changing, as seen in my recent tests of models in the $100
to $149 and $150 to $199 price
classes.
The Curve Test Site is a particularly difficult challenge. Here the radar vehicle is parked in mid-curve, its radar aimed uphill and at a 45-degree angle away from
oncoming
traffic. The police vehicle isn't visible until the
moment the radar operator has already locked-in the speed of an approaching car, at about 650 feet. With nothing to deflect the radar beam toward the detectors'
antennae, only
extreme sensitivity can deliver enough warning
distance.
Australia-based Redflex Traffic Systems is the largest photo enforcement
company doing business in the U.S. In years past its photo radar (speed) vans used a
Swiss-made Ka-band radar
that was very lower-powered and extremely difficult to detect.
Now they're using a German-made K-band radar that's slightly easier for radar detectors to spot. But
not
much. Of the dozens of models we've tested against the Redflex radar only a handful gave enough warning.
That bunch included all five of the GPS-enabled detectors and other high-end models with superior K-band sensitivity. A few mid-priced models including the BEL
(Beltronics)
Vector 940 and BEL Vector 955; the Cobra XRS 9940 and two Whistlers, the XTR 695 and Whistler Pro 78, occasionally showed enough sensitivity (detection range) but not consistently. And every other model we've tested is hopelessly inept at
spotting this radar.
American Traffic Solutions (ATS) is the other dominant U.S. photo enforcement vendor. ATS
developed its own Ka-band radar and continues to use it. Like the
Redflex system, the ATS radar is very low-powered, making it equally tough to detect.
Target-capture range, the distance at which your speed is locked-in (and your photo is taken) varies from 30 to about 110 feet, depending upon the road width, number
of
lanes and shoulder width. At speeds under 55 mph we feel 375 feet of detection range is the absolute minimum, allowing only five seconds in which to react. At 75 mph,
make
that 550 feet, and that'll help only the wide-awake driver.
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