Well, I decided to pull the trigger on this Front Cusco knock off. It's for sale by Top Speed for around $80 Shipped on E Bay, so I figured for that price...how could I lose?
The bar has been reviewed before on G35 forum here...

http://g35driver.com/forums/brakes-s...peed-auto.html

Here is a pick of one a sale here a while back:



It's trully a Cusco knock off. I have confirmed the diameter as 35MM and it's SOLID (as Cusco bar). It weighs 16lbs...for reference the Hotchkis 35mm (Hollow) is 13.5 lbs. (EDIT: STOCK V2 bar is 14.3 Lbs and MEASURED 35MM instead of 34mm info given here) You have to use either stock or Poly bushings..they don't provide em. I used the Prothane 34MM bushing made for the 350Z..fit perfect even though 34mm. Prothane provides special lube as well, but I added Liquid Wrench Spray on White Lithium grease to the mix. It has TWO settings for the front..I used the stiffer one.
Fit is perfect and car now handles like it's on rails. Turn in and mid corner is much steadier and more predictable than before. I added the bar to complement the Tanabe rear bar I already have on. I was experiencing some snap oversteer with my square set up (18X9.5 all around with 245/40F and 275/40R). So I wanted to counter the oversteer tendency with a beefier front bar.
The instuctions (Japanese!) show the same stiffness specs as Cusco...+20% for soft setting and +37% for stiffer one. These were based on first generation bars and 04.5 up V2 is 17% stiffer...so that would mean +3% and +20% over the V2 bars. However, I find that puzzling, since calculations based on a bar that's 1mm thicker AND SOLID, show a bar that's at least 20% HIGHER than the published #s Cusco gives.

In summary, this bar is well worth the FRACTION of the cost of more expensive bars out there. (read>>>HEAVILY MARKETED). So the default argument is that these are junk bars. OK..read on>>>
This bar is made in Taiwan (confirmed). They won't divulge the manufacturer, but my research came up with only ONE major Taiwan supplier of sway bars. Here they are:

http://www.alibaba.com/product/henna..._Sway_Bar.html


This is 350Z *stock* bar..but they will do any specs you want (like Cusco specs).

Note description of bar itself:
sway bars are crafted from SAE 9254 spring steel which is stronger and more resilient than competitive sway bars. All sway bar kits have been shot peened and heat treated, and feature precision forged ends - many applications have multiple end link mounting points for adjustability.TOSER sway bars are powder coated for long lasting color and durability on the street and track.
So, *Cheap* cost doesn't necessarily translate to *Cheap* bars.
I have put the bar through the paces...hard cornering..etc and I'm a happy camper.

 

Nice write up bro I may look into picking up some of these

 

what brand of bushings did you end up using?

 

I like the hellwig bars I have they even came with graphite impregnated bushings

 

Prothane 34MM. Like ES they're designed for 350Z bracket. They provide their own grease, but I added White Lithium Liquid Wrench spray to the mix. Dead quiet.

 

More fedback..
Damn..this bar is sweet. It has really transformed the car..much more solid all around and I can toss it now with reckless abandon. I'm really amazed at what a BIG bar on the front can do. Keep in mind, I have Nismo S tune..Tanabe Rear bar and 9.5s all around, so a BIG BAR makes a differerence here. It's also less prone to high speed twitchyness..car is planted 100% now. Pucker factor reduced by 50%. All this for $80 shipped