The Definitive Word: V1 versus 9500CI

I'm a relative noob here, but a long time hoon driver who's had a fair variety of ECM equipment over the years, ranging from the Fuzzbuster (yes, I'm that old) to the most recent, a 9500CI. Our household currently is home to two V1s, a Passport 8500, and the aforementioned 9500CI.

I've long been a strong proponent of the V1, but living in suburbia, where radar sources are as plentiful as rats in a New York City KFC, I found that I was, more and more, ignoring the V1's many alerts. Not a good thing. So, I decided to install the 9500CI in my new Subaru STi. These are some fairly preliminary impressions, which I'm sure will become more refined after more time with the 9500CI.

First, I like clean cockpits. As I've gotten older, I have less and less tolerance for suction cups and power cords. The great immediate appeal of the 9500CI is the fact that it's pretty unobtrusive. I had minimized the visibility of the V1 about as much as I could--partially obscured by the rear view mirror, remote audio and remote display--but it still was pretty obvious to even the casual observer that I had a radar/lidar detector mounted in the windshield. The Subie attracts enough attention; the V1 on the windshield seemed to be just asking for it . . . whatever "it" might be. So the unobtrusiveness of the 9500CI is a great plus for me.

Second, as I alluded to above, while I do a fair amount of highway driving, most of the time I spend in my car is on suburban streets, where radar sources are abundant. I got to the point where I was ignoring my V1.

How do I feel about the switch? First, while the V1 isn't perfect, it's outstanding. My initial impression--mind you, I haven't done a side-by-side and don't intend to--is that it does provide a little more advance warning of actual radar "bogeys," but that the difference is not significant. I'm sure that a side-by-side comparison would tell me what we already know . . . both the V1 and the 9500CI provide more than adequate warning, except for instant-on attacks. In some circumstances, the V1 wins and in others, the 9500CI gives more warning.

I do miss the V1's clearly superior display. Though skeptics dismiss the V1's arrows, they give an experienced user a lot of useful information . . . it's pretty easy to distinguish the real threats from extraneous radar sources, and much easier to locate the exact location of a radar threat. With the 9500CI, I find myself having to scan 360 degrees to try to figure out what the detector is telling me. It's possible, but it's sooooo much easier with the V1. In terms of providing useful information, I give the nod to the V1 . . . it's far superior.

But, the 9500CI has some clear advantages, too. I have yet to encounter an actual Lidar threat, but its sensitivity to real radar threats is excellent . . . probably on par with the V1, and it enjoys a huge advantage in discriminating between real threats and non-threatening radar sources. Now, when I hear an alert I react immediately. With the V1, unless I got a full intensity warning, I would take a few seconds to analyze things to see whether or not it appeared to be a real threat. That conditioned skepticism was not, in my judgment, a good thing and I think it makes you somewhat more vulnerable.

So, that's where I'm at right now. I have years of experience with the V1 and only a few days of experience with the 9500CI. In terms of radar sensitivity, I'd have to give the two units equal marks, based on my very rough gut-level sense of how much warning they give. At any rate, I know that under most circumstances I'll have a fighting chance at reacting in time with either unit.

In terms of the quality of information available to the user, the V1 is the winner by a big margin. But I also recognize that the need to interpret the V1's information is in part a result of the fact that it's continually throwing alerts at the user.

The 9500CI wins, hands down, in terms of its ability to filter out extraneous alerts, and in its easy integration into your car's cockpit. We'll see how it does in terms of lidar detection and (out of state) laser shifting.

On a price-dependent basis, the clear winner, in my book, is the V1. If you live and drive in a rural area, it's a great choice. In a metro area of six million, it alerts so much that it becomes a major pain in the arse, diminishing its effectiveness. Therefore the 9500CI is, I think, a better choice if you live in a densely populated area and are susceptible to ignoring a V1's incessant bleating. However, it's hard to get past the fact that its MSRP is four times the cost of a V1.

As I see it at this point, the real winning ticket would be a 9500CI with the display of a V1. Alas, we all live in the real world, so that's not going to happen any time soon. Realistically, either of these units is top-notch. If you're trying to decide between the two, I'd urge you to ignore the partisan cheerleading you see in these forums and elsewhere, decide what your concerns and priorities are, then buy accordingly. Both are winners.

This is a well-written real-world comparison that makes a real contribution to us all.

You state well the practical consequences of the classic problem of sensitivity versus specificity. Wouldn't it be great to have a maximally sensitive, for e.g., smoke detector, in order to get the earliest possible warning of a fire? Wouldn't that "early warning" (sensitivity) be beyond useless, if it came at the expense of specificity -- going off when you make a piece of toast, when the furnace comes on, when someone drives past your house with a cigarette burning!

Apparently the new CI has found the way to increased sensitivity, while managing the accompanying scourge of decreased specificity.

I hope you will keep us all updated as you gain more experience. Your extensive experience with the V1 is an invaluable reference point.

Very well-written. Thanks for sharing. I am awaiting the installation of my 9500Ci and hopefully, will also be able to provide some insights into it's sensitivity and daily useage compared to other top-flite RDs.

That being said, I am currently running the V1 combined with the abilities of the Cheetah GPSMirror. My V1 runs in A (All Bogeys) Mode in the city and highway. Combined with the GPSMirror's speed filtering (muting X/K Band alerts if my speed is < 35 mph), I have found the V1 to be alot more liveable in X/K Band saturated cities with no loss of sensitivity. This is similar to the speed sensitive filtering already build into the 9500-series of RDs, Ci included.

It occurs to me that, for only 5x the price of the V1, you can have the CI plus the added bonus of the V1 arrows -- if you can just figure out a way too have both running without interacting to reduce sensitivity.

Run the V1 with the volume all the way down. Ignore the arrows til you get a "legitimate" CI threat report.


Regarding:

V1 and Cheetah gps! I had the interface for use with my old Bel 65. Finally decided to get a chip to update the interface. What the heck was I thinking? Or not thinking, in not having done so already!

naw, really?

That combination (V1 + GPSMirror) would be exceptionally good in Cow Town :)

You folks in Alberta sure love your Photo Radar... NOT!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Doc What, son?

V1 and Cheetah gps! I had the interface for use with my old Bel 65. Finally decided to get a chip to update the interface. What the heck was I thinking? Or not thinking, in not having done so already!

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That was well thought out and written.
I also had a problem with the V1's many alerts, but miss the arrows with the CI.

MikeBoom, can you tell us how/where you have your CI's radar antenna mounted? Or better yet post a pic if you're able to?

The reason I ask is that a number of forum members have confirmed the fact that the CI's antenna needs an unobstructed view of the road in order for it to have maximum sensitivity. If your CI's antenna is behind some plastic or something, that could be the reason it has the same range as your V1.

MikeBoom, I think your analysis is pretty much spot on. The only thing I wonder is the same thing that Retaliation is wondering. You seem to indicate that your V1 is slightly more sensitive than your 9500ci. This is not the case at all with my 9500ci and my V1. My 9500ci beats my V1 almost every time, at least 90% of the time. I'm wondering if you have your 9500ci mounted correctly. Your point about both giving more than adequate warning for C/O radar toting LEOs is exactly correct. The only real argument for greater sensitivity is distant I/O alerts.

I too am dying to see photos of MikeBoom's installation since he wrote an excellent and nicely detailed review. I so love reading user reviews. :)