suspension tuning

[White Anthony <anthony.white@domain.elided>]

Dear Alfisti,
 
A couple of mostly theoretical questions on suspension tuning:
 
My 116 tends towards understeer when I'm pushing.  Trail-braking into the corner it's fairly nicely balanced, but when I get back on the throttle, it tends to push the nose wide, which I really don't like.  I've never understood what's wrong with oversteer, or why understeer is better.  I like a pointy front end, and a tail that will give just slight oversteer that can be balanced with the throttle coming out of the corner.    
 
Now, the traditional method for making the car more balanced would be to stiffen the rear anti-roll bar and rear suspension.  This would tighten the rear end, and the whole car would tend more towards oversteer.  But would this be at the expense of overall grip?  That is, would it be tending towards oversteer because the tail was breaking away earlier than the speed at which it had previously been understeering?  
 
The other option is to soften the front end, through a lighter front anti-roll bar, or removing the front anti-roll bar altogether.  (In the local NZ Alfa Club, the most-stock racing series allows the front anti-roll bar to be removed, as one of the few legal modifications.)  So, a similar but opposite question -- if one removes the front anti-roll bar in order to provide greater front grip, and so reduce understeer, does it contribute to higher overall levels of grip than a heavier rear anti-roll bar would?  
 
Have I asked the question clearly?
 
Kind regards,
Anthony.  
 
'85 116 Giulietta
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