Although I own a Valentine V1 from my previous car I found it to be a big problem on the S2K. I drive mostly top down and removing it every time I stopped at the grocery, hdw. store, parking garage at work, etc. got to be a chore. I also found I frequently would forget to reinstall when I got back in the car. I figured it was only a matter of time before I had my V1 disappear and/or got a ticket so I decided a remote radar unit was the only answer.

I selected the Passport SR-1. Although Passport says it's only for installation by custom shops (usually $1000 or more) there are places that sell it to individuals, they just can't advertise it or give price on their web site. Got mine at Ammtech (talk to Lena) for $550 inc. shipping.

Installation is not difficult at all, max of 3 hours for front receiver and remote unit. May take me another hour to put on rear laser unit. I mounted front receiver between the two horizontal grill bars (it's bolted to lower bar) with front edge protruding just beyond grill bar. Remote unit is mounted under dash to left of steering wheel in small recess.

Since I have a front grill and receiver must not be behind metal I cut a rectangular hole in grill with Dremel Tool and dressed up the cut edges with door edge molding. With grill in place receiver front is virtually flush with grill. Very innocuous. Just finished 1200 mile trip and very pleased with the SR-1.

 

This is good information. Thanks for posting. Do you have any pictures of the remote unit installed?

 

Very Good info. I have owned 1 passport and one original Escort. The original was terrific since I could leave the on off knob in the on position and hot wire it so that it came on when I started the car. I figured that forgetting to turn the unit on and getting a ticket would just about frost me.

The Passport though didn't and that feature spoiled it for an otherwise very good unit.

Does the SR-1 have the ability to be set for "auto on" with the ignition?

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by gbaker
[B]Very Good info.

 

NIN009. Sorry I don't have a digital camera but would be happy to talk you thru it. Just send me a PM and I will tell you how to contact me. BTW, there are some sheet metal screws in the lower horizontal grill bar. I used one of those holes (a 10-32 bolt instead of sheet metal screw) and so just had to drill one additional hole for the 2nd mounting bracket on the receiver unit.

gbaker--yes.

 

How does it perform compared to the V1?

 

Obviously it doesn't tell the direction that the threat is coming from but I was very pleased. Hard to give a definitive answer because fortunately we ran into very few law enforcement officers. I CAN say for sure that it falses a LOT less than the V1 and that I really like.

 

It is my understanding that the passport has as good or better sensitivity but is at some disadvantage because the receiver is mounted so low. Being blocked by the car makes the rear receiver a necessity. Top of the windshield may be in the way but it is the best location for reception on the car.

 

cdelena, there is no doubt that location makes a difference but maybe not that much. In one test report that I saw it said that the remote units lost 10% in sensitivity due to location. For the convenience and praticality of a remote unit in a convertible I can live with that.

 

The reason that I was given for the prof installation was that there is a heat shrink material that needs to be wrapped around a couple of the connections. The escort person told me that they would not warranty the unit for water damage if installed at home. That is it.

You can do that shrink stuff yourself with a hairdryer.

I found that my Sr-1 was not sensitive enough when mounted just above the bottom grill, so I had an installer use (actually a alpine cd bracket) a bracket under it and mounted it to the bottom. This raised it up higher and the performance increased dramatically.

The rear laser is cake to install. Just have to channel the wire though underneath and unscrew the licence plate. It is very unobtrusive on our car.

Enjoy.