Design
Mounting the 8500 in our test vehicle was easy and
straightforward. A small suction cup bracket slides into the unit's
release mechanism and easily attaches to the windshield with light
pressure. The unit is housed in a sturdy plastic case that's low profile
and compact--although it is larger and heavier than Escort's wireless
offering, the Solo S2. The rear of the unit is dominated by a receiver
window and there's a rear-facing laser detector window designed to
detect laser signals emanating from behind the vehicle.

Digital Signal Processing (DSP) provides maximum range, with minimum false alarms.

The Escort 8500 has a suprisingly simple
control layout. Two buttons on the top of the unit control sensitivity
settings and display brightness. They also double as selection buttons
when the unit is in programming mode. The left side of the unit sports a
volume dial. A mute button is positioned on the front panel next to the
large, horizontal LCD display which, during normal use, graphs the
intensity of the radar and laser signals the unit detects. Power is
supplied by an included Escort SmartCord, which plugs into a
cigarette-lighter power socket. The SmartCord features an alert LED, as
well as a built-in mute button-- two handy additions.

Features
The 8500 can detect all of the radar bands currently in use
in North America for speed detection, including the X, K and Ka bands.
The unit also features detection diodes for laser detection, but for the
most powerful protection from laser detection, Escort offers the ZR3
laser jamming system, which is plug-and-play compatible with the 8500.

The feature that separates the 8500 from other Escort radar detectors,
as well as the entire previous generation of radar detector technologies,
is its Pop radar detection capabilities. Pop radar guns, while still
relatively rare in police departments, are used to identify speeding
vehicles in traffic. They provide little warning as the radar signal
idles at a low frequency until it transmits an extremely short,
high-frequency burst to "Pop" a target. The 8500 is equipped with a
highly sensitive receiving system and a digital signal processor
designed to pick up Pop signals from a safe distance. Pop detection is
not enabled by default in the 8500, however; users must turn it on in
the settings menu. Escort probably chose to disable Pop detection by
default because its increased sensitivity also increases false alerts.
However, first-time radar detector users might be in for a surprise if
they neglect to turn it on.

The Passport 8500 X50 provides 3 types of warning displays to choose from.

Audio alerts are the most important feature of any radar
detector, and the 8500 doesn't disappoint in this department. Warning
tones get progressively louder as a threat approaches, and users can set
the unit to deliver warnings at preprogrammed volume levels. Each radar
band--including Pop radar--has a distinct tone, making it easy to
quickly discern threats. The 8500's "AutoMute" feature automatically
lowers the volume level of an alert after a period of time.

False alarms are one of the major annoyances of radar detector use. In
our tests, the 8500 was surprisingly adept at minimizing false alarms
from home garage door systems, as well as home and commercial security
systems that commonly operate on X-band radar. The unit's city
sensitivity setting decreases sensitivity to X-band sources, while the
highway setting does not. We found the unit's powerful "AutoSensitivity"
mode the most accurate, however, as it dynamically filtered all types of
radar signals and identified which sources were a legitimate threat. We
got a few false alarms, but for the most part, annoying chirps from
bogus X-band sources were uncommon.

The 8500 has nine built-in customizable settings. In the settings mode,
the LCD acts as a menu system that lets users control display
brightness, automatic mute, audio tones, and power-on modes. There are
also settings for disabling detection of selected bands. We liked the
expert mode settings, which allow a user to get a constant picture of
the intensity of all the radar bands in the area. The SpecDisplay, which
is a feature exclusive to the 8500, displays the actual numeric
frequency of the radar signal being received.

For those living in states that prohibit use of a radar detector, the
8500 does include VG-2 radar detector detector protection, which is
designed to both alert the driver and shut down the unit's oscillator.

On the Road
We used the 8500 on a 20-mile stretch of busy interstate
and were impressed with the low number of false alarms we received.
Again, this remarkable level of accuracy is due to the unit's
AutoSensitivity feature. While we encountered no police radar, other
controlled tests of the 8500's performance have put the reliable range
of detection at 2 miles for all bands. Meanwhile, Pop mode tests place
the reliable detection range between 500 and 1000 feet.

Pros

• Well-designed controls and display features
• AutoSensitivity
  feature greatly reduces false alarms
• Highly accurate with massive
  detection range

• Pop detection not enabled by default