Ranks High in Tests

There is a lot of hype surrounding radar detectors these days, and in 2004 a whole new crop of detectors hit the market promising to do everything but steer your car. Recent tests, however, have shown the Escort radar detector lives up to its claims.

When people look for a radar detector they are usually interested in features such as sensitivity, range, filtering, alerts, rear protection and, of course, price. The X-Band radar, the oldest type still in use by only about 15% of police nationwide, was tested on a straight five-mile stretch of highway. The Escort radar detector has three models that topped the four mile range in this test: The Escort 8500 X50, 4.5 miles; the Escort Solo 2, 4.0 miles and Escort SR 7, 4.2 miles.

Under the same test conditions, the Escort radar detector faired as well against K-Band with the 8500 50X still reaching 4.3 miles; the Escort Solo 2 hit at 4.0 miles, and the SR 7, 4.0 miles. Against the Ka-Band the detection range was the same as the K-Band test results.

It should be known, however, that the Escort radar detector manufacturer was merged through a buy-out with Beltronics a couple years ago, and the newer products sold under both names are probably going to be the same in regards to functionality, features, and performance.

Filtering Suppresses False Alerts

Filtering means removing the false alerts that were prevalent in the first K-Band detectors. Your detector may be issuing alerts in response to other radar detectors, but if your detector continuously gives you false alarms, you’ll start to ignore them just like the little boy crying “wolf.” The Escort radar detector faired very well in filtering tests with the 8500 X 50 rated a 10 (on a 1 to 10 scale) and both the Escort radar detector S2 and SR 7 rated an 8.

One of the newest radar units in the police arsenal is POP radar. This type sends out a quick burst, usually under 80 milliseconds in duration, and it’s been shown to defeat about 85% of today’s radar detectors. A test on the same escort radar detector found that the 8500 MX50 detected POP radar, while the other two models did not.

While experienced radar operators and testers have found no jamming units that work on typical X-Band, K-Band or Ka-Band radar, the Escort Shifter was successful in jamming laser radar, but the laser read through at 623 feet in the first test and 642 feet in the second.

Overall, the Escort radar detector series has been rated one of the best on the market and is available in many stores and automotive accessory outlets as well as on the company’s own website.