I've written about my hatred for the 22" Goodyear Eagle Comfort tires that come on Aviators with 22" wheels. After driving 2 hrs in our 2020 Explorer ST with 20" Michelins, to pick up the new Aviator I couldn't believe how the Aviator wandered all over the road. Some of it was the tire width(275) and 40 series tire profile, but it was likely the poor quality of the Goodyear tires. An alignment helped a bit, but I pretty much put up with them till I could get from Naples, FL to our Iowa summer home, where I had a set of 18" Michelin Pilot Sport 4 SUV tires on wheels that fit the Aviator and had been on our Explorer. The ride and handling changed like night and day! Those 22" Aviator wheels weighed 30 lbs a wheel more which certainly helped both, but the Ultra Performance design of the tires, probably made the most difference in handling. the 60 series sidewalls definitely helped the ride, but likely not as much as a lower performance 60 series tire would have.
The front suspension on the Aviator is much different than the Explorer. Those with 22" wheels thru 2024 also get the adaptive suspension which both measures the up-down movement and adjusts it electrically (likely magnetically changing the viscosity of the shock oil) similar to GM/Delphi Magnetic ride option.
After this tire/wheel change, we are extremely happy with the responsive handling and quality ride. We've owned
Cadillacs, other Lincolns, and many other performance and luxury vehicles, and as our long distance driver, we feel our Aviator is likely the best car we have owned (so far....)!
Massive wheels may look impressive and "Manley" but they suck for handling and ride quality. And, they hurt stopping distances and acceleration, because one is speeding up and slowing down a great deal more of unsprung rotating weight.
