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Well, it took some time, as I was the test mule, but myself, LITE BLUE, & EZEGER all had our V1's custom installed in our '02 stooks. It is a complicated job- and was done by an award winning installer with a national reputation in South Florida. For starters, in addition to purchasing the V1 directly from Valentine, we also needed to purchase the remote display unit, as well as the remote audio control unit. The remote display unit is now BUILT IN BEHIND THE GLASS IN THE REAR VIEW MIRROR! Yes, it looks beautiful. The REMOTE AUDIO UNIT now resides under a custom smoked lexan plate in what used to be my useless coin cup! The V1 itself was disected, and the majority of the body is now hidden behind the plastic trim pieces behind the drivers seat, while the sensor unit from inside the V1 is now located in the most exciting part of this install- THE FAUX SECRET COMPARTMENT LID. This installer used my original secret compartment lid, and fabricated a custom mold for the top of it. He then built up, layer by layer, just enough fiberglass body to raise the height of this secret compartment lid about a centimeter. next the sensor unit from the V1 was placed inside, and a matching pleather top was fashioned with smoked lexan windows in the front and rear to allow for the radar and laser signals to reach the sensors uninhibited. The edges of the lid curve down and meet the other interior trim pieces perfectly, and the whole thing looks factory. We have tested the system's performance against another car with the V1 mounted in a standard fashion with the winshield suction cups- and driving down the interstate with FRS radios, we determined that both V1's were alerting at precisely the same moments and with the same accuracy! Since the glove box is lockable, and the secret compartment still looks secret, this is truly a beautiful stealth install. The system is also (obviously) hotwired to my battery, so it turns on with the car and off with the car- provided I leave the power of the unit on. Volume control is ultra convenient, with the coin cup converted to the contol center. One knob now controls the on/off, volume, and sensitivity (filter) settings of the V1. Placement of the remote display unit in the lower right corner of the rear view mirror (behind the glass and permanent) was intentional (as to location within the mirror) because this location usually only provides a view of the passenger side roll bar- and not the road behind- still completely visible now. THIS IS THE PERFECT INSTALL. The complete job in the future, start to finish is now bound to be able to be done in one day- now that the mold for the fake secret compartment top is made. This is a labor intensive install (obviously) and does take quite some time though- a full 24 hours perhaps...if anyone is interested, email me at gomason@bellsouth.net - but a group buy of at least 10 peeps should definitely be put together. I'd be happy to help this effort if any of you need my assistance. Installation must take place in South Florida for now- as production is low and these products and procedures are still in their infancy- so distance is still a consideration- you must for now come to FLORIDA to have this install done to your s2000.
A group buy is recommended, as the secret compartment tops need to be fabricated in some type of volume for the materials shop. This is not the cheapest install- but it definitely is the best I have ever seen in an S2000, and if you've got the green, it's without question the way to go. Performance FAR EXCEEDS the K40 systems- and both front and rear signal detection on all bands (including the directional warnings of the V1 is fully effective and has not been compromised. Price for the install (in a group buy of 10 will be $1000 - and that's with you providing your own V1, display unit and audio contol) $1500 with these things provided for you if you don't already own one- or if you'd rather one stop shop. This is about $100 to $200 more than a professionally installed K40 system- but IMHO is definitely worth it- and the performance truly blows the k40 away (I've had both in previous cars).
that has to be the best install of anything i have ever seen. 1000 seems high for a radar detector, just imagine how many tickets you can pay off with that money, but the wow factor is just awesome!
Very nice install. I would comment, however, that the remote display mounted in the center of your windshield, in the mirror, seems like just having the V1 housing itself mounted in a normal fashion on the front window. The display mounted in this way is HIGHLY visible in the S2000.
Very well done regardless.
I chose not to mount the "02 windscreen after the install because I didn't like the look and thought it too short to be effective - BUT - the installer will remount the windscreen for you if you like- he just modifies the bottom of the bracket slightly to account for the curve- and drills right through the new fake top and into the original mounting holes- remember, the lid's original- just has a fake lid on top of it.
I welcome any further questions...anything I can contribute to this fine forum makes me proud.
06-08-2002, 10:19 AM
V1 Stealth Install Complete- Lots of Pics!
However, what happened to the little windscreen that's usually on top of the secret compartment?
