Wasn't really sure where to put this, but considering I have a 997TT, thought this would be most appropriate.

Had an interesting day today. A number of guys from the radar/laser forums got together, a few flying in from the Other Coast, to do some testing on various setups. Having just installed a Laser Interceptor, I joined in wanting to know if my money was well spent.

The testing site was a clear, flat loading dock about 800 feet long. Clear shot for the lasers, safe for the drivers and no chance of encountering pedestrians, oncoming cars, LEO's.

The state of the art laser guns were there, and more importantly, the ones used most frequently in my state.

Results for the 997 were impressive to say the least. Black car, low profile, properly installed diodes = several JTG's.

The laser nest


The lineup


Real nice TTRS behind me in the queue


Made about 20-30 runs back and forth that day. Speed 30 mph from about 800 feet out. Laser nest on the right side behind the short wall at the end of the strip. This run was vs. an LTI LRB unit.


Results in the attachment. Cars ranged from an S Class Merc, Honda Civic, Audi TT, Ford Fusion and Mustang, BMW 3 series. Most were running LI units, one fellow brought M47 Blinders which were utterly worthless and thus didn't even bother to post his results.

Summary: Black 997 with properly installed V8.9 LI dual heads (non-HP) can achieve JTG even with the most cutting edge LIDAR technology today (i.e. Truspeed S).
A lot of the punch thru's were due to faulty heads and/or improper installation.
Blinders are crap. They provide little to no protection and in some cases of the newer technology, don't even register being hit. If you have these, consider yourself unprotected.

EDIT: Added a PDF with results by car

 

how many heads and where? Some guys are saying you need 3 heads for full coverage up front and others say you just need 2 up front and one in the rear.

 

I have a new Escort. Got smoked by a Laser in Orlando FL. By the time it warned, too late.

 

For a 997 it really depends on if you have a front plate or not. With Bonehead's car, there isn't really anything reflective in the middle of the car, especially since the car is black, so having two heads mounted straight ahead and level under the headlights works very well.

 

Well the Nanny state VA needs you to have a plate. They dont allow anything to help defend against their radar laser and build in places in the noise dampeners on the highways. Honestly worse than the CT losers.

So it needs to work if I get it.

 

Certainly the more heads you have, the better your protection. But three may not necessarily be better than two. As Charles said, I don't have many reflective surfaces up front. Three most important aspects regarding installation are 1) as wide a spacing as is feasible, 2) unimpeded field of view for each head, 3) alignment (diodes parallel to the road and pointed directly ahead).
As for rear protection, I opted not to get it for several reasons. I would venture to guess that 95-99% of shots are taken from the front. Second, protection of the rear is a bit more difficult with our cars. Once again, spacing is important. Ideally, one would place them under the taillights: and as you know, there isn't any place to mount them in that location. Putting one head over the license plate I'm guessing would be worthless. 2 heads may give you some protection, but far from ideal.

Escorts are pretty, but unfortunately for you, I'm not surprised to hear.

Most states require you to have a front plate, mine included. But I'm never going to run one. Period.

Nothing is foolproof. You look at the above data, I got punch throughs at various distances, albeit at MUCH shorter distances than most of the others present. Certain manufacturers are a joke. LI certainly proved itself yesterday. That all being said, the tests are irrelevant; the only thing that matters is that I'm protected the next time I'm shot with a laser.

 

Ok so just go with dual and call it good?

Our Police are such losers they will pull you over for that, tint, anything. Whats so funny is just about everyone here lives off the taxpayer via working for the gov in some way or another. So the money goes in a circle. Its funny.

 

IMO, yes, regular dual heads should be sufficient on a 997. But this is just my opinion. I'm not an expert. Just a curious, semi-informed consumer

 

Well as I've said on the other forum, Charles from RDF, your setup is very good. And you're smart to get it tested! Testing is key- Had some sub par results from my personal car this weekend testing with my Pro Laser II.

 

Oh, that's you? Haha
Yeah, pntblnk had a horrible day. Found out his setup was completely FUBAR. But I guess better to find out there than on the highway.

 

Where do you have your heads mounted?

 

Can you take pics? I like the LD and LI as they have the "parking sensor" option. as does the blinder but you said the blinder failed miserably

 

Had one on my 997 TT for 3 yrs, worked well, never had a ticket in
39K fun fun fun miles. Must pay close attention and respond quickly, jam on the brakes and reset the button. Although illegal in CA, decided the penalty was less than a speeding ticket. Even had a CHP walk around the car, and not notice the defusers, guess they hadn't seen any before. I am sure the newer ones are even better. Have fun!

 

They're parking sensors! If you Jam to Kill without a huge nose dive it shouldn't be obvious to the cop that you have laser jammers.

 

yes please post pics of install location on front end tia!