I've heard people say that suspension only matters for sliding around, or that it doesn't apply to the nomad since it doesn't have wheels. Both of these are incorrect.

All of these tests were done with random S class modules, your numbers may vary with maxed X class modules but the point still stands:

Suspension greatly affects both top speed and acceleration of exocrafts. (As well as handling of course)

The pilgrim

Using hi-slide and grip boost at the same time with -50% forward grip each makes the pilgrim accelerate so slowly that it takes significantly longer to reach its max speed than the colossus does. Using one isn't nearly as bad but it still accelerates slower than having no suspension at all.

Now a fully decked out pilgrim only has 1 slot available for suspension, and using only drift suspension with +200% forward grip it almost instantly hits a max speed of 41.0.

Unfortunately, the adjacency bonus from the suspension matters here: If you remove suspension entirely the max speed drops to 39.3. If you get 2 adjacencies from suspension you get 42.5, and with all 3 suspensions you can hit 44.1.

You could combine drift and grip suspension for increased acceleration and handling over base, and max speed of 42.5 (Which is what I did, because the pilgrim is impossible to handle with just drift) but you'll have to drop one of the other upgrade modules to fit it. Choose wisely!

The roamer

The roamer has extra slots available and can fit all 3 suspensions without compromise.

With just drift it hits a top speed of 36.3 very quickly. With grip and drift it hits 37.7. With all three it hits 39.0.

While the acceleration with all 3 isn't super it's not bad. The roamer's larger mass makes it maintain top speed more easily over bumps than the pilgrim, so acceleration isn't as big an issue.

There's another reason not to just take grip: With only grip on certain inclines the roamer will floor it so hard it does a wheelie and digs its rear end into the ground, leaving you stuck there facing the sky until you let off the pedal.

I can't measure acceleration accurately enough to know if adjacency affects the suspensions themselves, but make sure hi-slide is the one with less adjacencies just in case.

The colossus

The colossus has enough slots for all the suspensions as well, and you don't have to worry about controlling it since it's too heavy to drift to begin with.

Unlike the layout suggested on nomansskyresources.com, instead of placing the hi-slide next to a suspension, you should place the hi-slide next to an upgrade module for more speed from adjacencies. This makes it go from 35.1 to 36.5 max speed

The nomad

The nomad is where this all started. Turns out it's easier to measure speed when water planets provide a massive runway for free. Unfortunately the nomad is where it gets complicated and I'm pretty sure these issues affect the other vehicles too to a lesser degree, so I've placed it last.

Getting the numbers out of the way: Max speed with 3 adjacencies was 40.0, with 2 was 39.9, with 1 was 38.5 and with none was 37.1.

This is of course depending on where the adjacencies are. I got 40.0 with hi-slide adjacent to an upgrade module, but 37.5 adjacent to the engine or not adjacent at all. The engine probably has a lesser strength rating to put it in xaine's terms

In the nomad in particular, forward grip affects top speed. While I didn't measure anything close to this on the other vehicles, the lower forward grip from hi-slide and grip suspension lowers the max speed dramatically. This effect is only offset by adjacency bonuses. Swapping out a single drift suspension for a grip one drops speed from 38.5 to 32.0.

In one direction. In the other direction I'm getting 26.3… Huh?!

It appears the perfectly flat runway I've been testing things on isn't perfectly level. (An artifact of the planet being round perhaps?) The game makes it make a huge difference depending on whether I'm on a tiny incline or a tiny decline. While I couldn't notice any difference in top speed depending on incline on the rest of them, the top speed on a nomad with lowered forward grip is clearly lower uphill than downhill.

Notably, this difference goes away with drift suspension – then it hits 38.5 both ways. Based on this I have to assume that increasing grip will also increase your speed on inclines. (Though I didn't bother testing that much)

The nomad also has this "Incline behavior" on water, though I didn't test it enough to know for sure if it occurs everywhere on water, swapping grip for drift makes it go from 26.3 to 38.5.

tl;dr:

• Drift > Grip > Hi-slide – Apply them in that order
• More adjacencies can mean more top speed, but grip and hi-slide suspension mean less acceleration
• Nomad's top speed in particular is heavily affected by forward grip
• More forwards grip heavily affects the nomad on slopes, and probably everything else on slopes too (Though I didn't test this thoroughly)

My builds below:

• Nomad and pilgrim dropped a cannon upgrade for double adjacency
• Hi-slide highlighted in red

https://preview.redd.it/lhw0p68dm34c1.png?width=1606&format=png&auto=webp&s=79eeaa4d84987cbfadab6682cb25611e8e87b938