Whistler Releases it's Affordable New Whistler CR97 GPS Radar Detector

New Whistler CR97 Released

Date: September 14th,2018
By: Veil Guy

Whistler CR97: Whistler's New Affordable GPS Detector

After months of anticipation, Whistler is finally releasing their new top-of-the-line affordable GPS detector, called the Whistler CR97.   The Whistler CR97 is the successor to the very popular outgoing model, the CR93.

A lot of development work has gone into the new Whistler CR97 and we've have the privilege of helping shake things out over the last year when its development began.

I have driven more than 12,000 miles over this time and have seen the CR97 be improved and refined. Whistler has some nice things in store for those interested in investing in a great performing detector without breaking the bank.

Those that have read me for a long time know that I have been a fan of Whistler for many years as I believe their top end detectors have been overachievers.  No time in history has this been more true with the new CR97.

This time around, Whistler has really stepped up their game with two significant improvements.  The first is sensitivity.  Whistler claims that the new CR97 has increased sensitivity to police radar--up to 6dB on Ka-bands (which equates to double the alerting range) and up to 3dB on K-band (which equates to a 50% increase in alerting range) as well as increased sensitivity to X-band (something that we have always wished for).  Sensitivity to police laser remains exceptionally strong and we found the C97 is able to detect new VPR (variable pulse rate police lasers).

But we feel the real star of the show is it's unique ability to identify new fangled radar used for ticketing, called FMCW or frequency modulated continuous waveform radar.  FMCW radar has been used internationally for some time in the form of Jenoptik's MultaRadar CD/CT photo enforcement systems.  These very low-powered K-band systems are extremely hard to detect and variations of these systems are currently deployed in the U.S. and we believe we will continue to experience more of these systems over time.

The problem with these systems is that they appear similarly to the radar used in automotive collision avoidance systems.  The most sophisticated detectors today (often costing twice as much of the CR97) tend to filter these ticketing systems out along with the CAS systems.

Knowing this, Whistler has come up with an ingenious system to specifically identify these systems which are currently being used in both speed radar and speed on green photo enforcement systems.

At a low price point of $249.95 (MSRP is $299.95), the Whistler CR97 is our pick for those looking for an affordable GPS radar detector that offers high levels of performance sometimes matching (if not exceeding some detectors costing twice as much).  We expect great new things from Whistler in the future, too.

You can read a detailed review of the Whistler CR97.

For those interested, you can purchase one at RadarBusters.

Veil Guy