Spectre Elite, Driveby Testing

Doing a shootout with the Spectre Elite is a quick and easy way to find out how far away it can detect different radar detectors. However, I’ve found that those results don’t necessarily translate into what you’ll experience in real life. It’s a difficult worst case scenario test, but when an officer is driving past you or you’re driving past him, your results may be different. Because of this, I’ve run a number of different detectors in a variety of different situations against the Spectre and the results are very interesting. Let’s run through the list of some detectors so you can see what an officer would see in practice if you were running one of these detectors:

Escort Passport Max2

The Max2 is definitely detectable by the Spectre Elite. It alerts from both directions and it’s pretty easy to determine which vehicle has the RD mounted inside of it.

In fact, and I’m not exactly sure why this is, I was getting even longer detection distances in this round of testing than I did previously in the maximum range testing. Very interesting…

Purchase a Max2 here.

Escort Passport Max360

The Max360 is actually even more detectable than the Max2. It maxed out our test course (no pun intended) when driving towards the front of the vehicle and was more detectable than the Max2 from behind, which is no surprise given its added rear horn.

Purchase a Max360 here.

Valentine One

The V1 was also detectable both from the front and from the rear, but less so than the Max2 or Max360. This was with a V1 v3.8945.

Purchase a Valentine One here.

Uniden R3

Here’s the super popular Uniden R3. I’ve tested 3 R series Unidens now. This is with a beta R3, but my production R1 and R3’s were comparable. The R1 was just like this, the R3 gave an extra foot of detection range or so, but otherwise the results in this video are what you’ll see with production detectors too.

Purchase a Uniden R3 here.

Cobra DSP9200BT

The Cobra DSP9200BT is surprisingly effective against the Spectre Elite. Most of the time, with the exception of a few select situations, it is completely undetectable.

On a different note, the DSP9200BT is actually really good at locating the Spectre as well. For whatever reason, it alerts to 34.7 when it detects the Spectre up ahead or from behind, almost like there was a weak Stalker radar gun sitting next to the Spectre.

Purchase a Cobra DSP9200BT here.

Radenso Pro SE

The Radenso Pro is almost completely stealth to the Spectre as well. It can be detected when you’re nose to nose with it, or if the officer is in an adjacent lane, off at a 45 degree angle, so at very close range the Spectre can pick up the RPSE, but just when driving past, the RPSE won’t trigger the RDD.

Purchase a Radenso Pro SE here.

Radenso HD+

Here’s a look at the remote version of the RPSE, the Radenso HD+.

Purchase the Radenso HD+ here.

Radenso XP

The Radenso XP is even more stealthy than its more sensitive brother. Like the RPSE, it’s undetectable when the Spectre is driving by. Additionally, if the Spectre is sitting in traffic off at a 45 degree angle, it can’t pick up the XP. If the officer is fully nose to nose, the Spectre will finally be able to pick up the XP. However, that’s not a realworld situation most of the time.

Purchase a Radenso XP here.

Rocky Mountain Radar Judge

Here’s a look at the Rocky Mountain Radar Judge tested against both the VG-2 and the Spectre Elite. They claim RDD immunity, but as usual with RMR, it’s false advertising.

Don’t purchase anything by RMR. 😉

Stinger VIP

Here’s a look at a detector that actually is RDD immune, the Stinger VIP.

Purchase a Stinger VIP here. (Use coupon code “VortexRadar” to save 10%.)

Net Radar

Next let’s take a look at the Net Radar. It is somewhat detectable at close range.

We were having some discussion as to whether or not the results with my Net Radar are in line with the norm. Here’s a follow-up test with 3 different Net Radar antennas.

Purchase the Net Radar here.

Escort Redline

Next, here’s a look at a fully stealth radar detector, the Escort Redline. This detector won’t trigger the Spectre in an officer’s car no matter what he does.

Purchase an Escort Redline here.

Escort Redline EX

Finally, here’s a quick test with the new Redline EX.

Purchase an Escort Redline EX here.