SF Bay Area CA - Escort Passport 9500ix Vs. 9500ci

[tothemax]

Am doing some DD and have narrowed my search to the Escort Passport 9500ix or the 9500ci. Some questions please....


I live in SF East Bay Area CA (Martinez) and drive a lot I24 to go the the city and maybe I80 to Tahoe and I680 to San Jose. I put in lotsa mods in my car and now have developed a serious heavy right foot .... I like to drive min 90 on the freeway.. sometimes passed 100.. I barely touch the go pedal and seem to get right up there in no time... I need some help pronto..

1- It is worth to pay the extra $1,000 to have the jamming capabilities of the 9500ci in Nor Cal/ SF Bay Area? I would prefer to stick with the 9500ix but if laser is where we are heading... I'll fork the extra $. One ticket at 100 mph + will certainly pay for the cost of the 9500ci.

2- is there a website that shows what technology all various CHPs and cities use in Norcal?

3- How long is the self install for the 9500ci? I have some mechanical skills... installed HID's , new injectors, turbo, in tank fuel lift pump, bunch of instruments, some other stuff etc....

All thoughts welcome..

Thank you for all your help

[djrams80]

As far as radar detection goes, the 9500ci is much more sensitive than the 9500ix is, but the 9500ix usually provides plenty of warning for radar.

You definitely need laser jamming capabilities. CHP uses quite a bit of laser and laser is becoming more and more of a threat every day for us Cali residents. The question is, "Will the 9500ci's jammers(ZR4s) be capable of protecting your car against this threat?". What kind of car is it? Can you post a picture of the front of the car with the plate blacked out? If your car has a small enough frontal area, are you willing to Veil the front areas that call for it? Here is the latest GOL laser jamming test results:


Radar Detector Tests and Reviews by Guys of LIDAR

Here is video of my 9500ci against the PLII.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oxf7X4-dzrQ]YouTube - 9500ci(ZR4s) vs Kustom PLII[/ame]

Here is a video of my 9500ci's with Veil added against the PLII.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71Zjrj9mF-I]YouTube - Kustom Pro Laser II vs 9500ci(ZR4s) with Veil G4 Added[/ame]

[tothemax]

Tnx for your help - I have a VW Jetta Turbodiesel

How long and hard is it to self install the 9500ci?

[djrams80]

I have no idea how good your install skills are, but I don't think it's all that hard. Maybe 4 -5 hours if you're experienced, maybe 2 days if you're not.

Proper placement and alignment of the ZR4s is critical to achieve decent performance and Veil is definitely necessary for good performance, although I do feel that on that car, properly aligned and with Veil added, very good results can be achieved, at least on the front. The heads must be perfectly straight, level and properly placed.

As for the radar antenna, as long as it's mounted relatively straight and level, with a clear look at the road, performance will be out of this world.

[tothemax]

How about combining the Escort Passport 9500ix for detection and the Laser pro park for the jamming capability?

It appears from test results that Laser pro park offer superior jamming test results than the ZR4's

It's also seems much cheaper than the Escort Passport 9500ci

Anybody on this forum using this kind of combo?

tnx

I have no idea how good your install skills are, but I don't think it's all that hard. Maybe 4 -5 hours if you're experienced, maybe 2 days if you're not.

Proper placement and alignment of the ZR4s is critical to achieve decent performance and Veil is definitely necessary for good performance, although I do feel that on that car, properly aligned and with Veil added, very good results can be achieved, at least on the front. The heads must be perfectly straight, level and properly placed.

As for the radar antenna, as long as it's mounted relatively straight and level, with a clear look at the road, performance will be out of this world.

[djrams80]

How about combining the Escort Passport 9500ix for detection and the Laser pro park for the jamming capability?

It appears from test results that Laser pro park offer superior jamming test results than the ZR4's

It's also seems much cheaper than the Escort Passport 9500ci

Anybody on this forum using this kind of combo?

tnx

LPP is a bad choice for Cali. CHP just ordered 400 of the newly released LTI TruSpeed laser guns. The LPP, which jams almost every laser gun out there very well, does not jam the TruSpeed whatsoever. So, your choices are Laser Interceptor(exceptional), Blinder M25(very good) and ZR4(decent). Nothing else jams the TruSpeed at all.

[tothemax]

Thank you for all your help. I am so glad I joined up this forum and got great advice. I guess I will fork out the big $ and get the Laser Interceptor. I am thinking I will go in phases here..

First get the Escort Passport 9500ix and operate without laser jamming for a while... (save up more $) .... and then get the Laser Interceptor.

Also considering some veil for the headlights and those clear plates that go over the license plates. What do you think about the benefit of those and a good source for them?

tnx

LPP is a bad choice for Cali. CHP just ordered 400 of the newly released LTI TruSpeed laser guns. The LPP, which jams almost every laser gun out there very well, does not jam the TruSpeed whatsoever. So, your choices are Laser Interceptor(exceptional), Blinder M25(very good) and ZR4(decent). Nothing else jams the TruSpeed at all.

[YTCD]

Im suprised you said that dj. I would think the 9500ci from you and your experience in cali. The way they use radar and the tactics chp uses personally the 9500ci is honestly the only way to get full protection especially doing 100 mph. Off ramp and s*** like that is scary and a 9500ix, and even a v1 will often times not get the alert every time. I would but the 9500ci, and some veil and I think you will do alright for right now. Save up for the blinder m45 extreme (need the extra 2 heads for rear laser shots) and your car will be protected damm good. Just watch for overpasses and off ramps for rear laser shots for the time being. I know I won't have as good advice as dj as for him living in that area but I personally feel that the ci is the way to go in his situation. Especially seeing some of your videos dj!

[tothemax]

Hey, i saw in your sig you have the Liquid Crystal License Plate Hidder. I really like that but I was wondering how you hook that up w/ the rest of your countermeasures? not manual with a switch I hope? is it linked in a control loop with the radar/ laser detector ?

How does it know when to turn on when one of those cameras is trying to take a photo of your car ?

Im suprised you said that dj. I would think the 9500ci from you and your experience in cali. The way they use radar and the tactics chp uses personally the 9500ci is honestly the only way to get full protection especially doing 100 mph. Off ramp and s*** like that is scary and a 9500ix, and even a v1 will often times not get the alert every time. I would but the 9500ci, and some veil and I think you will do alright for right now. Save up for the blinder m45 extreme (need the extra 2 heads for rear laser shots) and your car will be protected damm good. Just watch for overpasses and off ramps for rear laser shots for the time being. I know I won't have as good advice as dj as for him living in that area but I personally feel that the ci is the way to go in his situation. Especially seeing some of your videos dj!

[djrams80]

Im suprised you said that dj. I would think the 9500ci from you and your experience in cali. The way they use radar and the tactics chp uses personally the 9500ci is honestly the only way to get full protection especially doing 100 mph. Off ramp and s*** like that is scary and a 9500ix, and even a v1 will often times not get the alert every time. I would but the 9500ci, and some veil and I think you will do alright for right now. Save up for the blinder m45 extreme (need the extra 2 heads for rear laser shots) and your car will be protected damm good. Just watch for overpasses and off ramps for rear laser shots for the time being. I know I won't have as good advice as dj as for him living in that area but I personally feel that the ci is the way to go in his situation. Especially seeing some of your videos dj!

I am assuming that not everyone is willing to spend $2800 on countermeasures like I am. With CHP buying a ton of LTI TruSpeed laser guns, if you're going to skimp on anything, I think the laser jammer will soon be more important than the RD here in Cali. The 9500ix is still extremely sensitive and will do an excellent job of dealing with those full blast K band alerts that the traffic monitoring system gives you up in NoCal. Of course the 9500ci and the LI will provide the best protection, but not many are willing to spend that kind of cash.