Would Cybertruck Deflect Radar Guns?

[YamiLionheart]

Was just looking at the Cybertruck and thought to myself, stealth aircraft are designed similarly to make them more difficult to detect via radar. Would the Cybertruck possess similar characteristics due to its angular shape?

 

[Matt L]

Was just looking at the Cybertruck and thought to myself, stealth aircraft are designed similarly to make them more difficult to detect via radar. Would the Cybertruck possess similar characteristics due to its angular shape?

No. There is a lot more to stealth than angles

 

[MichaelP90DL]

I used to run a company that sold police radar jammers. I owned several X, K and Ka-band radar guns and did a lot of on-the-road testing. I also demo'd the jammers at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Clearly, shape plays a role in determining the distance at which any given radar gun can acquire the target. I suggest you do a test on a lonely, straight road with a cop. Two target vehicles should take part in this test. First one is a vehicle of comparable size, such as a pickup truck (don't use a car). The cop must be stationary and the radar gun switched (continuously, not pulsed) on during the test. The start point for the moving vehicles will be one mile, speed 60 mph. The cop will tell you when the gun finds the truck. Note the location. Second test with the Cybertruck. Note the acquisition point as before. My guess is the distance will be less. If it is, then determine how many seconds tick by between the acquisition points at 60 mph. That gives you the reaction time advantage you have over a similar vehicle at "highway" speeds. If you've got a radar detector, it will probably alert before you even start moving, which is why cops prefer to squeeze off pulses rather than let the radar run continuously. If the cop also has a lidar (laser) speed gun, test against that, too.

 

[YamiLionheart]

I used to run a company that sold police radar jammers. I owned several X, K and Ka-band radar guns and did a lot of on-the-road testing. I also demo'd the jammers at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Clearly, shape plays a role in determining the distance at which any given radar gun can acquire the target. I suggest you do a test on a lonely, straight road with a cop. Two target vehicles should take part in this test. First one is a vehicle of comparable size, such as a pickup truck (don't use a car). The cop must be stationary and the radar gun switched (continuously, not pulsed) on during the test. The start point for the moving vehicles will be one mile, speed 60 mph. The cop will tell you when the gun finds the truck. Note the location. Second test with the Cybertruck. Note the acquisition point as before. My guess is the distance will be less. If it is, then determine how many seconds tick by between the acquisition points at 60 mph. That gives you the reaction time advantage you have over a similar vehicle at "highway" speeds. If you've got a radar detector, it will probably alert before you even start moving, which is why cops prefer to squeeze off pulses rather than let the radar run continuously. If the cop also has a lidar (laser) speed gun, test against that, too.

Sounds like a good test, but I don't have any of that stuff lol. So maybe it would affect it somewhat it sounds like?

 

[craz]

Shape is important for the frequencies of radar that police use, but those frequencies are also very sensitive to panel gaps, surface finish, material transitions, basically every other aspect of this vehicle. Oh yeah not to mention the big melon behind the steering wheel

 

[MichaelP90DL]

Sounds like a good test, but I don't have any of that stuff lol. So maybe it would affect it somewhat it sounds like?

All you need is a friendly policeman. Do you know one? If not, someone in your area knows one, and in my experience cops want to know how effective their equipment is. Just ask the cops if they'd be up for a test. My feeling is there will be an impact on acquisition range. I mean, look at the damm truck. Much of the radar signal will be deflected. If that front window is metallized in some way, probably the radar blast will also be deflected from there rather than bounce off interior components. The lower part of the front end and wheels would likely be the most reflective spots, but that lower front end is slightly angled down, so at distance probably much of the bounce from there will hit the ground. I suspect acquisition range will be reduced, compared to a big pickup truck. The proof is when you eat the pudding. Speculation is nice but the truth will be known when you perform real-world tests.