Will 225 width tires safely fit on a 8.5" rim? TIA.

 

Well - you need to see what both your wheel manufacturer recommends and also what the tire manufacturer recommends.

I would think 225 would be much to narrow for a 8.5" rim. Most companies are gonna recommend a 255 or 245.

Like this is the page for Kumho Ecsta MX's. You can see there that they recommend a 225/50/16 for 6.0"-8.0" wheels...but they recommend the 225/45/17 for 6.0"-8.5" wheels.

I don't know why you wouldn't want to go with a wider tire though - you can safely put a 255 on a 8.5" rim, and that would look much better than a 225. A 225 is going to do like this from the rim to the tread / \...whereas a 255 would be more flat l l. In the same persepective a 285 would go \ / . So you want something that lines up good.

Go with a 255.

 

Reason being is that the street tires are just for looks mainly. I'm putting 275/50/17 (28" diameter) rear tires on the car to keep the revs down a wee ibt with my TH400 and possible 4.30-4.56 gears. The only manufacturer that makes tires in that size is Nitto and they are the 450's. I'd really like matching tire brand/design/tread in the front if at all possible. Unfortunately the only size they make even close in the 450 line is 225/50/17. I do want as narrow of tire in the front to go for the more drag-oriented look, although I would be just fine with 235 or 245 provided they made one that matches.

 

Understood...
This site may be of help to you finding out more info on Revs/minute, etc., since it does tell you that stuff.

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html