I do the majority of my tuning by feel, I care most about how comfortable the car is to drive. Every track and layout may require a different setup for that feeling, but often a setup that favors stability slightly will be the most consistent over the stint.

on smaller tracks like the mini-96, you need full steering capability. So the main goal in that setup is to offer a front end with good stability into and off the corner, while offering a lot of mid corner steering. Generally, a slightly softer setup than a large circuit is required, and once sorting out the tire, it is getting the spring right. Softer spring will have more pitching and body roll in the corners. Going too soft you will start to lose traction on the opposite end of the car (rear into the corner, and front off the corner). After springs, it's figuring out the damping. Even in a box stock scenario, damping can make the setup more consistent. Grease on the shaft on the center shock, and kingpins can calm an edgier car to become consistent. Damping essentially slows the reaction as the mass transfers f/r and side to side. Too much damping (grease too high viscosity) will slow the transfer too much, and make the mass stay too long at that part of the car beyond where you want it to be. Reverse front kingpin work better with grease than the traditional layout does. Generally, 5-15k grease works well on smaller circuits where you want more body roll, and 15-30k is better for larger circuits. I often start dry, then work my way up.