READ FIRST: Understand that with any adjustment there is an equal and opposite reaction that happens. It will take tweaking and adjustment to find what works on your setup the best. This is only a general guide - do not come back and complain that I made your car handle worse... homey don't play that.

I have only included adjustments that can be made on our cars. Things like rear camber and toe, for example, I have left out as we cannot do anything easy about it.

Also, I can't take credit for a lot of this. I combined a lot of different sites along with my own limited knowledge and experience... thanks for understanding. Now onto the meat...


TERMS

Understeer: This is when, at the limit of vehicle traction, the front of the car slides first before the rear. Race car drivers call this "push". This is the way that many cars come set up to behave from the factory as it is the most predictable for average drivers. The crash mode for understeer is that when the limit of adhesion is exceeded, the car will plow strait ahead off the road nose first. This is not the fast way to have your car set up but if you are a dork mode driver. When the car understeers you should regain control if you let off the gas, unless of course you run out of road first.

Oversteer: This is when, at the limit of vehicle traction, the rear of the car slides first before the front. Race car drivers call this "loose". The final crash mode of oversteer is backwards, tail first into the woods or in the worst case spinning round and round with the driver as a helpless passenger. Oversteer is difficult for a dork to handle because recovery requires judicious use of countersteering and throttle feathering to control; fine motor skills that only some of us can deal with. Although oversteer looks neat and macho it is really a slow way to drive except in pro-rally on the dirt. Oversteer is slow on the pavement because hanging the tail out bleeds off a great deal of speed going through a corner. Conserving the momentum is the fast way around as turn.

Neutral: This is the fast way around a turn where all four wheels slide evenly. Since the total friction circle traction of each tire is being used, all the available grip that the tires have is being put to the ground. Neutral is the fast way around a corner most of the time. Neutral is also the hardest handling mode to achieve for the suspension tuner.

Contact Patch: The amount of tire area that is in contact with the road surface at any given time.

Weight Transfer: Sprung weight transfer is the weight transferred by only the weight of the vehicle resting on the springs. When the wheels, axle, and other unsprung components change direction (you turning the wheel), weight transfer happens when the body, engine, and you shift to what feels like the outside of the turn. It is very important to have this under control in transitions (going directly from the exit of one turn into the entry of another). Transitions load one side of the suspension, so when it is unsprung, and you turn toward the loaded side, the energy causes a much larger reaction to the opposite side.

Deflection: Describes the degree to which a structural element is displaced under a load. In simple terms, your suspension will only be setup perfectly if it has an absolutly solid peice connecting it - we don't. Between chassis flex and bushing distortion the geometry of our suspension changes constantly, which is bad. The most basic and necessary solution are solid connecting peices which are harsh to drive, thus the Energy polyurethane bushing kit is key. As far as chassis flex goes there is not much we can do save for welding a roll cage together. The only other thing that can be done, and can be done with good results, is a front strut bar which links the top of the front suspension together - so get a big solid one.

Compression Dampening (commonly called bump): Compression damping determines how fast the suspension can compress when you hit a bump. With stiff compression damping, the fork or shock cannot compress quickly enough when a bump is encountered, and the movement of the wheel as it rises up the face of the bump is transferred into the chassis - where you feel it. With too little compression damping, the weight transfer of the car itself as you accelerate and brake will be enough to compress the suspension, giving it a Cadillac-like softness.

Rebound Dampening: Once your suspension has compressed over a bump, rebound damping determines how fast the suspension can extend and keep the wheel in contact with the ground. Too much rebound damping will keep the suspension compressed when it should be extending to follow the road on the downside of a bump, and the wheel will lose contact with the ground. Too little rebound damping and the suspension will extend fast enough to push the car up forcibly, giving it a loose feeling. Because rebound damping plays such a big part in how much of a contact patch you have, it gives you the feeling of traction and the confidence that comes with it.

Rake: What we, as PT Cruiser owners, hate. The difference between the front and rear ride height. Positive rake means the front is lower than the rear, and negative rake is when the front is higher than the rear (only necessary on '68 Impalas with airbags...).

Now that that is out of the way. Here are the different things you can do and GENERALLY what it will do to the handling of your PT.

SETUP TIPS

TIRE PRESSURE (by far the easiest way to change the handling characteristics of your car):
Increase Front Pressure: Less Understeer - Too much pressure and the tires will wear the centers quickly and ultimately give very little traction
Decrease Front Pressure: More Understeer - Too little pressure and the tires will wear the outside edges and will "chunk" on the edges
Increase Rear Pressure: Less Oversteer - Too much will do the same as above
Decrease Rear Pressure: More Oversteer - Too little will yeild same as above

SWAYBARS:
Larger Front Bar: Increase Understeer/Increase Front Roll Resistance - This could help reduce camber changes allowing a better contact patch - Too much of this can cause the inside tire to lift a bit taking away traction at the front.
Smaller Front Bar: Decrease Understeer - Too much could cause less of a contact patch yeilding understeer
Larger Rear Bar: Increase Oversteer/Increase Rear Roll Resistance - This could help reduce camber changes allowing a better contact patch - Can cause the inside rear tire to lift off the ground which is not necessarily bad on a FWD car.
Smaller Rear Bar: Decrease Oversteer - Too much could cause less of a contact patch yeilding oversteer

SHOCK ABSORBERS (most of us only have rebound adjustment, but I have included bump adjustments here as well...):
Increase Rebound Only: On bumpy roads, too much may cause tires to leave surface, decreasing traction
Decrease Rebound Only: Will allow more traction on bumpy roads - Too much and the car will continue to bounce
Increase Bump Only: Increase body roll resistance, car will want to turn in better - Too much and the car won't "settle" in turns
Decrease Bump Only: Decrease body roll resistance, car will be slower to turn in
Increase Bump and Rebound: Ride become harsher, car becomes more sensitive to driver inputs
Decrease Bump and Rebound: Ride becomes more comfortable, car may "float" over bumps and through turns

SPRING RATES:
Increase Front S.R.: More Understeer - Will increase ride harshness and front roll resistance, but tires may not follow bumps causing reduced traction - Too much and car may hop in turns and will spin too much especially in our FWD cars
Decrease Front S.R.: Less Understeer - Will decrease front roll resistance - Too little and the car could understeer at the apex if it is allowed to bottom out
Increase Rear S.R.: More Oversteer - Will increase rear roll resistance - Too much and rear could hop in corners
Decrease Rear S.R.: Less Oversteer - Will decrease rear roll resistance - Too much here, especially with our cars, and your car will be spooky in transitions

CAMBER:
Increase Front Negative Camber: Less Understeer - Too much will give poor braking/accelerating, and will wear the inside edge out too quickly
Increase Front Positive Camber: More Understeer - Too much will give poor braking/accelerating, and will wear the outside edge too quickly... 99.99% of the time you never want positive camber - unless you're stupid

TOE:
Increase Front Toe-in: Stable going straight and average turn-in - Too much will be twitchy while braking and will eat tires
Increase Front Toe-out: Car will turn in very well especially in our FWD cars - Too much and the car will wander while going straight, be twitchy while braking, and will eat tires

GENERAL TROUBLESHOOTING GUIDE FOR SUSPENSION ISSUES:

Steady state understeer (All turns or low-speed turns only):
1. If front tire temps are optimum and rears are low, stiffen rear antiroll bar.
2. If front temps are too hot, soften front (most likely).
3. If front tire pressures are optimum, decrease rear tire pressure - increase if chunking occurs.
4. Improper front camber. Too much body roll at front, causing excessive camber change.
5. Increase rake.

Steady state understeer (High-speed turns only):
1. If front tire temps are OK, increase front downforce.
2. If front tire temps are too hot, reduce rear downforce.

Steady state oversteer (All turns or low-speed turns only):
1. If rear tire temps are optimum, with fronts too low, stiffen front antiroll bar
2. If rear temps are too hot, soften rear antiroll bar (most likely).
3. If rear tire pressures are optimum, decrease front tire pressure. Increase if chunking occurs.
4. Improper rear camber.
5. Decrease rake.

Steady state oversteer (High-speed turns only):
1. If rear tire temps are OK, increase rear downforce.
2. If rear tire temps are too hot, reduce front downforce.

Corner entry understeer:
1. Front shocks are too soft in bump resistance.
2. Too much front toe-in; use a small amount of front toe-out.
3. Increase rake.

Corner exit understeer:
1. Rear shocks are too soft in bump.
2. Front shocks are too stiff in rebound.
3. Increase rake.

Corner entry oversteer:
1. Rear shocks are too soft in rebound.
2. Rear ride height is too high (too much rake) compared to front - decrease rake.

Corner exit oversteer:
1. Rear shocks are too soft in rebound.
2. Decrease rake.

Straightline instability:
1. Tire pressure is too low in one or more tires.
2. Too much front toe-in.

Straightline speed too slow:
1. Too much overall downforce.
2. Too much toe-in or toe-out.
3. Ride height is too high.

Excessive steering effort (All turns):
1. Front tire pressures are too low.

Chassis or suspension bottoms out:
1. Spring rates are too soft.
2. Shock absorber bump rates are too soft.
3. Inadequate suspension travel.
4. Inadequate ride height.