Do I run a Radar Detector?

Oh course I do! It only took me one lesson in my younger days to learn that having a radar detector is necessary when you drive an Audi. I personally go with the Uniden brand as they have been the most supported (aka they get constant firmware updates) and best performing in the past couple of years. I currently rock the Uniden R3 (affiliate link) (gps enabled) model as I got it before the latest and greatest Uniden R7 (affiliate link) model came out. I likely would go with R7, but it's just a little out of my price range at the moment. Anyway, the Uniden R3 (affiliate link) work perfectly for my needs as I can block out annoying speeds signs or garage door openers with GPS memory option. So, it really only warns me of true threats.

I currently have it tucked pretty closed to the rearview mirror as shown in the picture above. I did go with the hardwire kit to keep a stealth look. You can cut out a small hole as show in the 3rd picture to the right to channel the wire up next to the rearview wiring. Then tuck it under the headliner going toward the front driver side pillar and down to the fuse book. I tapped it into the homelink garage door fuse as it only powers on when the car is running. 

The major tip I can offer for all those new with radar detectors, a detector alone is not good enough. A cop might not turn on their radar or have insta-on system until you are close by... so you need something like "Waze" to alert you of reported cops. This is critical when a cop is using "laser" gun to calculate your speed. Unlike radar, lasar have a near instant lock of your speed and only your car. You rarely will detect laser from when a cop is pointing it at another car ahead. Meaning, if your detector warns of laser, typically is just mean that your ticket is coming soon (if you are speeding). I personally just turn off laser detection for this reason. Only Waze and your esye help in this situation as a cop really need a good line of sight of oncoming traffic, which also means that they have to be visible for all passing cars. As long as someone reports a cop on Waze, you typically will have plenty of warning to adjust your speed. Obviously if no one reports a cop then there isn't much you can do (unless you want a laser jammer which are very expensive). In short your radar detector become a second layer protection before your eyes can be. You just need to get in the habit of having Waze running everywhere you go. 

In summary, I wanted to share this info with all of you so you all can enjoy some extra piece of mind when driving your Audi like I do. Obviously avoid speeding and you won't need this, but if that isn't possible for you, well you got a good bit of info to help you out. Enjoy!
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• Current Radar Detector: Uniden R3 - https://amzn.to/2WTn9I5 (affiliate link)
  • How to best program your R3: https://www.vortexradar.com/2017/06/how-to-program-and-set-up-your-uniden-r1-and-r3/
• Recommend Radar Detector: Uniden R7 - https://amzn.to/2WLj6gK (affiliate link)
  • How to best program your R7: https://www.vortexradar.com/2019/04/how-to-set-up-configure-uniden-r7-radar-detector/
  • Hardware Kit : Uniden RDA-HDWKT - https://amzn.to/2Aqfdqd (affiliate link)

 - Amazon affiliate links were used in this post