Here's an idea for some fun and be able to see the fruits of our labor. We should start an
urban legend that is highly visible so we can snicker at how far it has spread. The idea will
be posted in this thread and refined for maximum impact and fun value. When the final
revision is done, everyone will blank out the posts in this thread and we'll start a new
one. The main person, presumably me, will start a new thread and random members will come
in back up the rumor. Others will link the thread in other forums. The whole rumor must be
belivable enough to catch saavy people off guard and sound like it came from proper authorities.
I propose the following
"Wanna make your car invisible to police radar for $1.25? Check this out.
Last winter, I broke the side view mirror on my car and to my horror, the dealer wanted $525
to fix it. Thinking it was a rip off I went for opinions at other dealers as well as local
body shops. The cheapest I was able to get the price down to was $425 at a questionable
place in the boonies. Checking with other people who have broken side mirrors, I noticed that
others were quoted big numbers for even common cars like Toyota Camrys and Honda Accords.
Those that were charged around $100 seem to have one thing in common. The housing of the
mirror remained intact with only the mirror being damaged. So what is so special about the
housing? I did some digging and a top mechanic at my dealer let me in on a small secret.
It seems the mirrors are made of a special low friction plastic. The US government has what
is called the CAFE standard that is often mentioned in auto magazines such as Car and Driver
and Motor Trend. Seems all cars sold in the US by any manufacturer must average a certain
fuel mileage. I did some digging and found the following site:
http://www.ita.doc.gov/td/auto/cafe.html
To sum up the article, companies that go above the fuel economy average earn credits while
those that fall below the standard are penalized. With the popularity of SUV and light
trucks, the manufacturers needed to do everything possible to boost the fleet average.
Around 1992, a top scientist at Germany's Federal Institute of Roadway Safety stumbled upon
an obscure compound originally developed by the US military for unmanned spycraft such as
the Predator drone. The low weight plastic was not only highy resistant to temperature
changes like those that would be faced in climates ranging from arctic to desert but also
nearly frictionless. So why did the United States Air Force not use this material? They
found it was highly reflective to radar waves. During tests, the drone was visible from
twice the range of their aluminum counterparts. The top brass decided that steath was a top
priority to the platic was dropped.
Car manufacturers on the other hand now saw an opportunity. By making the side mirror
housings of this material, cars would see a .2 to .4 drop in coefficient of drag (Cd). The
is usualy enough to add approximatly 1 to 2MPG to the average car. Although expensive at
around $300 per housing, it the thousands each car would be fined for not meeting the CAFE
standard. The side effect, however, is that car mirror housings are now able to be targeted
by police from much further distances. This is secret many law enforcement agencies do want
to be made public. Think about all the loss of revenue that would result from not handing
out all those speeding tickets? With the tough economy, these "cash cows" under the guise
of "public safety" are used to fill budget gaps.
While I do not condone reckless driving, I see nothing wrong withing driving a reasonable
speed on familiar interstate highways when weather and traffic conditions are optimial.
Taking the information from above, I went in search of a solution to not being a easy mark
for the police. Noticing that the Predator drone uses aluminum, I took several sheets of
aluminum foil from the kitchen and wrapped it around the housing of my side mirrors. I
contacted a friend that works at the public safety office of a local college. Their patrol
cars are equipped with K-band radar guns to catch speeders on campus. From about 1000 feet,
he was unable to clock my vehicle. It was not until I got withing 250 feet did the radar
display my speed. Had this been on the highway, I would have spotted a state trooper parked
on the highway and reduced my speed. Thinking the gun was out of calibration, he took
another patrol car and we retested. The results were the same and he was truly baffled.
We did hit upon one problem, the aluminum foil tended to reflect sunlight. If I did not get
busted for speeded, surely I would be busted for that reflective pieces of aluminum foil on
my mirror. Later I wrapped the mirror and foil in black electrical tape from Home Depot.
After a quick test, we determined that the tape did not affect the performance of the foil.
The ultimate test came last week on my daily commute. One stretch of highway is notorious
for speed traps. Tempting fate, I approached area known for "Bear" traps. My Valentine One
radar detector was going nuts telling me I was being painted by police radar. I did not
slow until I was around 750 feet. As I passed the dumbfounded trooper, he gave me an
incredulous look. Round one, me. The next day I did the same at another trap with the same
results. Several friends have tried the same and they all report positive results. The
only person that has gotten a ticket basically brought it upon himself by not slowing down.
I reiterate the tape and foil method will NOT defeat police radar, only prevent the
reflection of the signal until a very short distance. So you must still slow down.
In summary, with some aluminum foil wrapped around your side mirror housings covered with
black electrical tape, you can effectively cut down the distance police radar is able to
clock your vehicle's speed. So $1.25 worth of Home Depot tape and two square feet of
aluminum foil can save you hundreds in fines and insurance premiums."
So what do people thing? Suggestions? Can we actually pull it off? I will correct for grammer and spelling. We will also need to come up with locations that are vague yet "familiar" to people.
With any luck, five years from now, we will still see cars driving around with aluminum foil and black electrical tape wrapped around their mirrors. Of course the person will swear their dentists's brother's best friend's plumber's bosses' son came up with the idea and it works great.
Windogg
urban legend that is highly visible so we can snicker at how far it has spread. The idea will
be posted in this thread and refined for maximum impact and fun value. When the final
revision is done, everyone will blank out the posts in this thread and we'll start a new
one. The main person, presumably me, will start a new thread and random members will come
in back up the rumor. Others will link the thread in other forums. The whole rumor must be
belivable enough to catch saavy people off guard and sound like it came from proper authorities.
I propose the following
"Wanna make your car invisible to police radar for $1.25? Check this out.
Last winter, I broke the side view mirror on my car and to my horror, the dealer wanted $525
to fix it. Thinking it was a rip off I went for opinions at other dealers as well as local
body shops. The cheapest I was able to get the price down to was $425 at a questionable
place in the boonies. Checking with other people who have broken side mirrors, I noticed that
others were quoted big numbers for even common cars like Toyota Camrys and Honda Accords.
Those that were charged around $100 seem to have one thing in common. The housing of the
mirror remained intact with only the mirror being damaged. So what is so special about the
housing? I did some digging and a top mechanic at my dealer let me in on a small secret.
It seems the mirrors are made of a special low friction plastic. The US government has what
is called the CAFE standard that is often mentioned in auto magazines such as Car and Driver
and Motor Trend. Seems all cars sold in the US by any manufacturer must average a certain
fuel mileage. I did some digging and found the following site:
http://www.ita.doc.gov/td/auto/cafe.html
To sum up the article, companies that go above the fuel economy average earn credits while
those that fall below the standard are penalized. With the popularity of SUV and light
trucks, the manufacturers needed to do everything possible to boost the fleet average.
Around 1992, a top scientist at Germany's Federal Institute of Roadway Safety stumbled upon
an obscure compound originally developed by the US military for unmanned spycraft such as
the Predator drone. The low weight plastic was not only highy resistant to temperature
changes like those that would be faced in climates ranging from arctic to desert but also
nearly frictionless. So why did the United States Air Force not use this material? They
found it was highly reflective to radar waves. During tests, the drone was visible from
twice the range of their aluminum counterparts. The top brass decided that steath was a top
priority to the platic was dropped.
Car manufacturers on the other hand now saw an opportunity. By making the side mirror
housings of this material, cars would see a .2 to .4 drop in coefficient of drag (Cd). The
is usualy enough to add approximatly 1 to 2MPG to the average car. Although expensive at
around $300 per housing, it the thousands each car would be fined for not meeting the CAFE
standard. The side effect, however, is that car mirror housings are now able to be targeted
by police from much further distances. This is secret many law enforcement agencies do want
to be made public. Think about all the loss of revenue that would result from not handing
out all those speeding tickets? With the tough economy, these "cash cows" under the guise
of "public safety" are used to fill budget gaps.
While I do not condone reckless driving, I see nothing wrong withing driving a reasonable
speed on familiar interstate highways when weather and traffic conditions are optimial.
Taking the information from above, I went in search of a solution to not being a easy mark
for the police. Noticing that the Predator drone uses aluminum, I took several sheets of
aluminum foil from the kitchen and wrapped it around the housing of my side mirrors. I
contacted a friend that works at the public safety office of a local college. Their patrol
cars are equipped with K-band radar guns to catch speeders on campus. From about 1000 feet,
he was unable to clock my vehicle. It was not until I got withing 250 feet did the radar
display my speed. Had this been on the highway, I would have spotted a state trooper parked
on the highway and reduced my speed. Thinking the gun was out of calibration, he took
another patrol car and we retested. The results were the same and he was truly baffled.
We did hit upon one problem, the aluminum foil tended to reflect sunlight. If I did not get
busted for speeded, surely I would be busted for that reflective pieces of aluminum foil on
my mirror. Later I wrapped the mirror and foil in black electrical tape from Home Depot.
After a quick test, we determined that the tape did not affect the performance of the foil.
The ultimate test came last week on my daily commute. One stretch of highway is notorious
for speed traps. Tempting fate, I approached area known for "Bear" traps. My Valentine One
radar detector was going nuts telling me I was being painted by police radar. I did not
slow until I was around 750 feet. As I passed the dumbfounded trooper, he gave me an
incredulous look. Round one, me. The next day I did the same at another trap with the same
results. Several friends have tried the same and they all report positive results. The
only person that has gotten a ticket basically brought it upon himself by not slowing down.
I reiterate the tape and foil method will NOT defeat police radar, only prevent the
reflection of the signal until a very short distance. So you must still slow down.
In summary, with some aluminum foil wrapped around your side mirror housings covered with
black electrical tape, you can effectively cut down the distance police radar is able to
clock your vehicle's speed. So $1.25 worth of Home Depot tape and two square feet of
aluminum foil can save you hundreds in fines and insurance premiums."
So what do people thing? Suggestions? Can we actually pull it off? I will correct for grammer and spelling. We will also need to come up with locations that are vague yet "familiar" to people.
With any luck, five years from now, we will still see cars driving around with aluminum foil and black electrical tape wrapped around their mirrors. Of course the person will swear their dentists's brother's best friend's plumber's bosses' son came up with the idea and it works great.
Windogg
Facebook
Twitter