Escort Passport 9500ci Review, Pt. 1

[VetteJockey]

I've had an Escort Passport 9500ci custom installed radar detector and laser shifter system installed on my C6 Corvette Z06 now for the past 2 weeks, approximately, and thought it about time to give some impressions to date for those considering the purchase.

My overall impression is positive. There are some definite flaws in the design, but overall it is a good device that serves its purpose. It has been a suitable replacement for my aging (and melting, see my previous review) Escort Passport 9500i windshield-mount radar detector.

Installation

I had my unit installed by a professional installer at a car stereo shop about an hour from here (there's no official seller/dealer for Escort near me capable of installing). This was the first unit they had installed, and it took approximately 2.5 hours to install. Some of this was undoubtedly spent reading the instructions and the installer familiarizing himself with the setup. I watched the majority of the installation first-hand.

Escort recommends a professional installation be done, but the packaging and instructions are clearly designed to be useful to those who are comfortable working on their own cars. If you have ever installed a stereo in your car, you'll have adequate skill to install this unit. Escort makes the wiring and connections as fool-proof as they can.

There are nine (9) components in total that need to be located and installed. One (1) radar receiver, two (2) front laser receivers/shifters, one (1) rear laser receiver/shifter, one (1) "GPS module," one (1) control module, one (1) display module, one (1) amplified speaker, and one (1) "interface" that all the wires plug into.

The radar receiver is a largish box, significantly larger than most standalone winshield-mounted radar detectors, that is designed to be mounted inside or behind the front grill (assuming you have a plastic grill). It needs a view of the road ahead free of any metal obstructions especially, but the less material you put in the way, the better (this includes plastic, which is not always transparent to radar, depending on the coatings of it (metal/chrome paint or coverings, for example). Mine fit comfortably behind my grill, centered, level with the road, as the grill is dark plastic with a very thin cross-hatched pattern. It's noticeable only with light hitting it at the right angle (e.g., a flashlight). I'll also note that this is a small design problem. The radar receiver has no view whatsoever of the rear and you are dependent on reflections off of cars and other reflective objects in front of you to reflect back signals from behind (as opposed to most windshield-mounted units that can pick up signals front and rear, at least to some degree). Granted, signals from behind are of lower threat (you're driving away from the source), but it's still a threat. The other small flaw in this design is that the receiver is mounted unusually low. The best location for the radar portion of a radar/laser detection system is as high as possible. It's more likely to pick up stray radar reflections there than closer to the road where hills and roadside obstructions could block the signals.

The front laser receivers/shifters are small, black, rectangular devices with a "top" side. They are designed to be mounted in plain view of the road ahead, preferably "halfway between the license plate and the corner of the vehicle" according to the instructions. If you are in a state that doesn't require front license plates, the ideal location would be as close to the headlights as possible. If you must have a front plate, halfway between the plate and the headlights would be a good compromise. Mine mounted nicely in some factory gaps on the chin spoiler, which is also black plastic using the included clamps (essentially C-clamps designed to clamp onto any flat surface roughly parallel with the ground, such as slits in a grill), and is within 12" of both the headlight and the fog light on each side. Included in the kit is an older style mounting bracket designed to be screwed into bodywork or metal behind the grill. This is a more permanent installation that I chose not to pursue. Theoretically, you could use good-old double sided tape to mount them as well, though this would have it's own strengths and weaknesses. The most important thing when mounting the front laser shifters is to make sure they are mounted absolutely level with the pavement. The manual mentions +/- 2.5 degrees, but Radar Roy tested it and found it to make a huge difference if you could keep it within +/- 1.5 degrees of level. Both included mounts allow for adjustments to the level. There is no mention in the manual of the shifters having to be aligned perfectly straight down the road (i.e., parallel to the direction of travel) from left to right. This makes some sense as you never really know where the police officer with the gun may be aiming from (how much of an angle), and the units are likely designed to scatter a wide cone of light left to right but not so much high to low. Also note that the laser shifters are shipped with a default setting of "receive" rather than "shift" which means you have to go through the menu and activate the shifting capability. The manual warns you of this.

The rear laser receiver/shifter is a simpler mount. It comes with a built-in metal plate that has holes for the license plate screws. This can be a little tricky if you have a license plate frame (depending on its design). You must remember to not block any of the text on the license plate (including the state name) or the light that lights up the plate at night (when your headlights are on). The metal plate on which the device is mounted is intentionally bendable to allow the shifter to be mounted parallel to the pavement (again, preferably within +/- 1.5 degree). Unlike the front shifters, the rear one doesn't appear to have a "top" or a right-way-up. This is likely intentional, allowing for the shifter to be mounted out of the way of license plate text from either the top or bottom holes.For those who are interested, on a C6 Corvette, mounting to the upper license plate screws and out of the way of the text of the state name still allows one sufficient room to press the trunk-release button without difficulty, though it hinders access to the key hole (the only one on the car, in case of power loss in the car, so you can access the trunk, though all you need do is unscrew the license plate screws in that case).

The GPS "module" is relatively small (about 3" by 4" by 1") and black. It has a magnetic base and can be placed on the roof of a vehicle (as long as it's metal). Again, you have the double-stick tape option as well as a windshield-mount bracket with included suction cups to mount the GPS much like you would a stand-alone radar detector. Please note that it appears this is a "module," not just an antenna, so the rest of the GPS circuitry seems to be built in to this little box. This means it is subject to heat, and direct sun exposure while sitting on a dash will shut it down due to overheating (when parked in the sun). Mine does this on a daily basis. Also note that mounting anything on a painted surface by magnet for extended periods will discolor the paint (due to differential sun exposure plus trapping moisture). This is another aspect of the design that needs to be rethought.

The control module and display module are both about the same size (roughly 3" by 1" by 1", it's similar in width and slightly taller than the typical Escort standalone detector display). There is an included flush-mount bezel in the kit so that one could presumably cut a hole in the dash and flush-mount the display in-dash. This seems a little extreme to me, especially since you cannot flush-mount the control module, but be my guest. The control module has 5 buttons on the front (large Mute button in center, 4 buttons at the corner: Brightness, Sensitivity, Volume, Mark) and a power button on top. The expected mounting choice is double-sided tape. It should also be noted that there is a small red LED included that is apparently intended to be mounted in the instrument panel (the manual shows between the tach and the water temp gauges) with the help of a drill. Again, do you really want that permanent of an installation?

The last two pieces are not as concerning, at least in terms of location. The amplified speaker is a 3" speaker in its own enclosure which can be mounted anywhere in the cabin. Ideal locations would include under the dash, under a seat, or in/under the center console. Your choice. The control module is intended to be under the dash so that all the wires coming from the other components can easily reach it. It's also handy to place it close to your fuse box as you'll need a power source and ground.

One final note, there is a plug for a wire to connect to your car's audio system to auto-mute the car radio when an alert comes through. Not all car radios have such an interface, but it's a nice touch.

Up next, performance. . .

[VetteJockey]

Continuing on with my first 2 weeks impressions of the Escort Passport 9500ci custom-installed radar detector and laser shifter system.

Performance/Use

I have two Valentine 1 detectors (of differing ages), a Bel RX65 Pro, and an Escort Passport 9500i in my inventory. The two V1's have been retired due to the sheer number of false alerts they provided making them difficult to use without wearing myself out trying to figure out what was a real alert and what was false. The RX65 Pro has also been put on the notice or similar reasons, though it sees occasional use in other vehicles. This will cease soon, though, as I move my 9500i into that job title now that I have a 9500ci installed.

First of all, the installation is much less obvious than a hunk of plastic or metal hanging in the middle of your windshield. The front and rear laser receivers/shifters are the most noticeable aspect, and will be spotted by observant individuals, but careful choice of mounting location and style will help minimize this to some degree. Anyone not intimately familiar with the lines/protruberances of a Z06 Corvette will have some difficulty recognizing that something is altered from stock. The rear license plate receiver is the most obvious and hardest to hide. A black license plate surround would probably help mask this.

I'm not certain, and I'll leave the official results to the testers like Radar Roy, but it appears to me that the 9500ci has superior range to the 9500i, based solely on 2 weeks of use in an in-town setting (no long highway trips yet). In my personal experience, I found the V1 to have the best range of any detector I have ever used, but it wasn't usable range due to the sheer number of false alerts. I really don't need to know that there's a grocery store 2 miles to my right when I'm on the interstate. I found the RX65 Pro and the 9500i to have similar performance, which is to be expected as they use the same radar detecting electronics.

The Escort Passport 9500ci, however, is designed around the Bel STI-r components/guts plus the latest Escort ZR4 laser shifter. This means you get comparable performance to the Passport 8500/Bel RX65 plus laser jamming. To date, my concerns about shorter range due to the lower mounting of the radar receiver appears to not be holding up. If anything, it seems to be superior to the detection of my 9500i. I suspect that there may be at least a couple of reasons for this. First, the receiver is in open air with no windshield to block any radar reflections. I've seen reports that the window tint strip at the top of the windshield on most cars can dramatically lower sensitivity due to being radio-opaque, and I've also heard that some brands of windshield/window glass are less radio-transparent than others, even if not tinted. The other factor that may be at work here is the fact that this is hardwired to the electrical system rather than being powered by the cigarette lighter plug, thus it has more direct access to a theoretically greater amperage. This may be backed up a bit by the sheer size of the receiver. I imagine there are some necessary compromises to the windshield-mount detectors for packaging reasons. One caveat to these impressions of increased sensitivity is that my area of the country is flat as a pancake, so I've yet to try it in a hilly area where I'd expect range to suffer due to the low mounting location required. However, in reality, my 9500i's location at dash level was really only about 1.5 ft. higher.

At some point in the near future I will be running a V1 along side of the 9500ci (now that I have freed up that cigarette plug) for comparison, but as of now, it appears that the V1 and the 9500ci are comparable in range/sensitivity with the 9500ci having fewer false alerts.

I should also mention that the 9500ci has 3 sensitivity settings: Highway, Auto, and Auto No X. Highway is full sensitivity, though it still filters out false alerts. Auto mode monitors your speed and lowers the sensitivity at slower speeds (around town) to X and K bands while maintaining full Ka band sensitivity. It uses the GPS unit to determine your speed. The Auto No X is the same except that it mutes all X band alerts. X band detection can also be independently disabled in the menus (as can K band, Ka band, and SWS). My recommendation is to always run in Highway mode with this unit as the Auto modes are a throwback to previous generation radar detectors that had far too many false alerts. The GPS functionality eliminates this concern, so why would you choose to voluntarily limit the sensitivity if there are no false alerts?

The GPS functionality is virtually identical to the 9500i with one added feature, Autolearn. You can manually mark all false alerts with the control module as you encounter them. This memorizes the signal frequency and GPS coordinates in the computer and will silence the detector when you encounter the same frequency signal at the same GPS coordinates. If a new signal is present, however, it will still alert to that new source. This means police can no longer hide in the radar wash of known false alert locations (as many frequently do). The unit also comes preloaded with a database of all the GPS locations of known red light and speed cameras. Thus the unit will alert you to these pre-marked locations with a different warning as you approach the area and the display will count down, in 50 ft. increments, until you reach the area. The database can be updated via a USB cable plugged into your computer. The software is not yet available for download. The town where the unit was installed, Lafayette, LA, is currently the only location in Louisiana that has red light cameras (a pilot program), but the state just approved expanding the program to other localities. I was notified of 3 red light cameras on my drive out of town the day the unit was installed, so it obviously works and the database appears to be fairly current. Incidentally, GPS satellite lock-on (and, thus, location of ones position) is virtually instantaneous after initial install, and is the fastest lock-on I've ever seen in a GPS device.

I have seen the Autolearn feature get some criticism on the boards from people who haven't used the unit. As an owner of the 9500ci, I have to agree with the general sense of it being not so great an idea. Be aware that it can be disabled in the menu system. It may have some uses, though. For those not aware, the Autolearn feature makes a note of every radar signal the unit receives. If it receives this signal 3 times in a row at the same location, it will mark it as a false alert and silence it in the future. If you ever pass by that position again in the future and the signal is not present, it will immediately remove that particular signal/location from its database. It appears to me, based on some limited and not premeditated testing, that once Autolearn marks an alert as false, it will stay marked false even if you disable Autolearn (i.e., there is no distinction made in the database between false alerts you program in and those Autolearn does). You can also unmark false alerts that Autolearn marks, if so desired, just like you would your own marked false alerts. I'll talks more about this in the last part of the review.

I have not been able to test the laser "shifting" capabilities of the unit, as LIDAR is still relatively rare here in Louisiana. All I can discuss is the principle of its function and how you control it. As mentioned before, the unit ships with the shifting ability disabled. There are a handful of states that have outlawed laser shifting/jamming, so this is likely a legal technicality regarding the sale of the units in those states. It's a simple matter to enable it through the menu system. The receivers function just like a windshield-mount laser/radar detector. The difference is that they are located closer to the target areas of a car and are, therefore, more likely to pick up a signal. The order of preference for targeting with LIDAR is license plate > headlights > chrome/reflective areas > anywhere else. The LIDAR beam is narrow, even at distance, and can be thought of as striking a part of the car, rather than the whole car, when aimed. The closer the receivers are to the areas likely to be targeted, the better they'll do their job.

Upon detection of a laser signal, the shifters will output light in the same spectrum and confuse the LIDAR gun to a point. The farther away you are, the more likely it will be successful. Essentially this buys you time to adjust your speed, if need be, to within the legal limit before you get close enough that the police laser can get a reading. The laser shifting can be disabled on a case-by-case basis simply by hitting the mute button. This appears to be the preferred strategy as it allows the officer to eventually get a reading on your car, after you've slowed down and hit the mute button to kill the shifting, and thus decrease suspicion on his/her part. No need to show your hand unnecessarily. This unit uses the latest SRX version, SRX 4, which appears to be the best on the market currently, according to the early tests I've read about.

Next part, criticisms. . .

[VetteJockey]

In this final part of my review of the Escort Passport 9500ci, I'm going to list my personal issues/criticisms I've seen in my first 2 weeks of use.

Criticisms

I've already mentioned my concerns about the mounting location of the radar receiver not allowing for rearward reception and depending on reflected signals from things up ahead of you. This is a legitimate concern as there is often little or no traffic or other objects off of which radar can reflect when one is on an interstate highway. Fortunately, the actual risk involved from a signal coming from behind is reduced, though not zero. I have encountered many situations where officers hide behind structures and clock car speeds as the cars are traveling away from them, then catch up from behind. Of course, you should be able to detect reflections off of the cars ahead of you if this is the case, and an alert about a hit from behind that is in such a scenario is likely only going to tell you that you're about to be pulled over, if you are exceeding the limit. Essentially serving the same purpose as those blue lights in your rearview mirror. Overall, this is a minor concern that could logically be solved by integrating a radar receiver in the rear laser shifter/receiver module (at added expense, of course).

I've also already mentioned concerns about the low mounting position of the radar receiver. So far, this doesn't seem to be an issue, but I plan on eventually doing a side-by-side comparison of the 9500 ci, 9500i, and Valentine 1 in hilly country with the latter two being high mounted on the windshield. If I can manage this test, I'll let you know my impressions.

I've also mentioned the "stealth" aspect of this install leave a little to be desired. The installation will be noticeable to a passerby no matter what you do. The degree of this, however, will depend mostly on your particular vehicle and what mounting options it presents to you. The installation will also be less noticeable on a black car, given all the laser receivers/shifters are black plastic.

As far as Autolearn goes, the only real use I see for this is the first 3 weeks or so of use. If one lives in an area with a large number of consistent false alerts (a large city), it can be a hassle to constantly be marking positions of alerts as you encounter multiple signals simultaneously. You never really know which signal you're locking out. Say you're picking up 2 K band, 3 X band, and a Ka band signal simultaneously, which one gets locked out when you hit the mute button three times? Autolearn would sort this out automatically for you, separating the various signals out and marking the repeating ones. The dark side of this feature, though, is best illustrated by trailer-based traffic radar. You know, the ones that state "your speed is __" for all to see. These devices are often stationed at or near construction zones in this part of the country for months at a time, and I've seen officers use these as a sort of external radar gun (which is probably not technically allowed) while hiding behind brush unable to see oncoming traffic at all until they have already registered on the trailer-based radar screen. These, of course, would get wrongfully marked as false alerts by Autolearn. You could always mark them as a speed trap, using the other marking options of the 9500ci, but then you'd have to keep track of that, too. This also applies to motion detectors of security systems that only get turned on after hours, thus consistently fooling the Autolearn into marking it and unmarking it (assuming you drive past it at least 4 times during the day). Overall, you're probably better off just marking your own false alerts, but there could be a use for the Autolearn I have yet to think of.

My next complaint is more grave. The GPS module is highly sensitive to heat. This was a problem I encountered frequently with the 9500i I had before upgrading to the 9500ci, but I was hoping they had solved it by now. They haven't, and it's actually worse. I highly recommend not dash-mounting the GPS receiver as I've personally seen that as little as 30 minutes in direct sunlight on a 80-90 degree day can result in the GPS unit failing to lock onto the satellites. Power cycling the system rarely helps, and it rarely is able to lock on until you've driven long enough for the A/C to cool off the interior and the GPS module. Please note that the radar detector will function without the GPS, but then you're stuck with all the false alerts, which defeats the purpose of having this unit to begin with.

This is a horrible design flaw for an electronic device designed to be in a car. In fact, the dash mounting location is specifically mentioned as one of the preferred locations in the manual. I plan on experimenting with this one to see if there's a simple solution, but this sort of design flaw is inexcusable on such an expensive unit. My suggestion? That's tough since the module must have a clear view of the sky. One possibility is to mount it somewhere that is covered by plastic or something else radio-transparent. For example, the GPS antenna on a C6 Corvette is in the driver-side wing mirror (the housing is plastic). Presumably one could mirror this setup, pun not intended, on the passenger-side wing mirror if highly motivated to disassemble the mirror housing. Some vehicle hoods and body panels are plastic, fiberglass, or carbon fiber, all of which should be transparent to radio and probably cooler than the dash, at least outside of the engine bay. This may offer a better compromise.

The unit cost is high. The 9500ci itself is $1600. Now add cost of installation (if you don't do it yourself), and tax (depending on where you purchase it), and you're talking about an expensive proposition. Consider that you can purchase a 9500i ($450 with red LED) and the Shifter ZR4 ($450) and have the latter installed for you, thus creating a similarly capable system, for less than the cost of the 9500ci alone. The 9500i and ZR4 will even integrate with each other, allowing you to mimic 90% of the functionality of the 9500ci at almost half the cost. All you gain for your extra $700 in a 9500ci is superior resistance to radar detector detectors and the lack of a windshield-mounted unit for others to spot (plus a few minor features inherent to the 9500ci such as Autolearn).

Future proofness, if that's a word, is somewhat in question. Yes the software and red light/speed camera database can be updated, but what about the laser shifters? Rumor has it that the latest LIDAR guns, so-called 4th gen units, are harder, nigh on impossible, to jam. We'll see about this potential issue, but as of right now, the unit performs well in tests. This is also something that should be considered as this is supposed to be a long-term installation (especially if you cut a hole in your dash to do the bevel-mount display module).

Final Thoughts

In summary, the Escort Passport 9500ci promises a lot and delivers on most of it. It has a significant design flaw in terms of heat tolerance, but otherwise is a great addition to the Passport family. I would suggest that if you are considering this unit, you closely examine the differences in features between this Passport 9500ci the Passport 9500i windshield-mount option plus custom-installed Shifter ZR4 modules, given the price difference, as well as considering just the 9500i alone, if you do not want/need laser jamming.

[edweird]

Thank you for taking the time to write and post your review. I'm looking forward to an update after you've used the system for some time.

[thestaton]

excellent, well composed review. however I got the feeling you where just quoting the manual / marketing slogan and mixing in your opinion.

just a tiny correction:

The Escort Passport 9500ci, however, is designed around the Bel STi Driver components/guts plus the latest Escort ZR4 laser shifter.

The 9500CI shares the same radar antenna as the STI-R.

[Atlas]

Excellent review. Looking forward to the future comparisons with the V1.
Thank you.

[MEM-TEK]

Hi VetteJockey,

Wow, you really took some time to write up this review. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it! If the GPS module was white then it would probably stay 20 degrees cooler in sunlight. When I eventually get my 9500ci, I will be mounting its GPS module inside the plastic fairing of my car's center brake light, thus keeping the GPS module from being directly exposed to sunlight.

[VetteJockey]

@thestaton: Thanks for the correction. I was going off of memory mostly, and I got the two jumbled up. My mistake.

As for the comment about me sounding like I got a lot from the Escort marketing dept. I can understand that. It kind of happens when there's only a limited amount of available technical info on the web and most of it comes from the Escort site. It's early in the release, so there's few people who have taken it apart to examine it under the microscope. I did do a lot of research on this purchase, as I think anyone should when looking at a purchase of this amount, and didn't find a lot of extra info.

I also tried to mention that there are some distinct negatives to the system as is, particularly the heat sensitivity issue of the GPS and the overall cost. For example, I think for most people looking for laser jamming and GPS capabilities, it's probably a smarter buy to get the 9500i and the ZR4 shifters.

As an aside, in my car I have only two 12V plugs (a.k.a. cigarette lighter sockets). One is occupied by an FM transmitter for my iPod. The other historically has been occupied by a radar detector plug. Though I always had the option to hard-wire the RD, I regularly upgrade units or use different ones for different situations (highway sensitivity vs. false alert squelching depending on my travel plans). Now I can theoretically have the 9500ci and another RD set up simultaneously. Ought to be an interesting experiment. I'm about to put around 24+ hours of highway/interstate driving on the car in 2 weeks. Current plan is to take along the Valentine 1 for comparison. I'll let y'all know how it goes.

Again, these are personal impressions, not rigorous testing results, but I figure there's some value in real-world experiences.

[thestaton]

Again great review, and I hope you are enjoying the CI. Keep us updated, I enjoy reading your impressions.

[djrams80]

Now I can theoretically have the 9500ci and another RD set up simultaneously. Ought to be an interesting experiment. I'm about to put around 24+ hours of highway/interstate driving on the car in 2 weeks. Current plan is to take along the Valentine 1 for comparison. I'll let y'all know how it goes.

Be very careful if you decide to run the 9500ci along with the V1:
http://www.radardetector.net/forums/...isturbing.html