Hey I will chime in here. I have Nitto 225 40 17 on Rage 5.0's and I love them. They handled great on the track at Mosport and IRP. The first 2000 kms they squealed a bit too much but since then have been great for grip.
I used the tire selector tool on the miata site and it told me that the 225 40 17 was an overall shorter wheel and tire combo. The other day i switched my 17's off an put the worn out 16's back on for winter storage and noticed that the KDWs on the 16's were in fact overall shorter than the 17s! Go figure. I guess there is a lot of variation from tire to tire. Also the 225's were not much wider than the 215's. But there could be many factors contributing to that.
My .02
Fern
1999 SVT Contour Silver Frost
Bassani,Ground Controls Street..17x7 Rage 5.0/Falken Azenis Sport 225/45/ZR17 Track...Kosei K-1 17x7.5 Avon Tech Ra 225/45/17/ Quaife/ SPEC Stage III/ Fidanza /Capaldi Racing 4.5 final drive/TCE Brake Kit 13"
| 
