power for radar detector?

[cablemn]

has anyone hardwired their radar detector from the courtesy lamps on the roof? or some other way without plugging the damn thing into the power outlet in the console box? the wire hanging down in front of the radio is driving me nuts.
BTW i finally got my stitches out from the cut i recieved putting my sway bar in. the blood and pain was worth it. i love the way it handles now.

[Mole]

if you want to hardwire it, you will have to look for a wire that becomes hot, when you start or turn on the car. otherwise the unit will always stay on.

oh wait, nm... haha i was thinking that its always on. the lamp should hold enough to power the detector, but upgrading the fuse may be a good idea.

[bassthrive]

Yes mine is hardwired because I too could no longer stand looking at that ugly coiled wire running down my dash. I tapped into the seat heater fuse in the box behind your "coin tray" in the drivers side knee panel. Sends 12 volts of bacon-sniffing power through some light gauge speaker wire (tucked behind the dash where it meets the windshield), to my detector when the key is turned. There are plenty of ground points around the fuse box for the ground lead. You may want to remove the knee panel completely to make this easier on yourself. There are a couple philips head screws - once removed you should be able to pull the panel out of its clips.

- Paul

[DocJohn]

I like to mount my radar detector as high as possible for the best radar possible reception (remember radar is a "line of sight" system). In the past I have tapped power out of the line used to power the visor vanity mirror lights in a BMW 328 and a MB 560 SEC. You may want to try a something like this in the Solara; it should work fine.

I now use an ESCORT S2 (cordless) so I don't have to worry about a power tap in my Solara.