Thoughts on 8.5" wheels for 225 tires
 

I have been reading on the forum and at other places about tires and wheels. I decided to get 225 tires after OEM tires are worn out. On the forum, popular choice is 8" wheels. I looked at tire rack testing and while they don't recommend 225 on 9" wheels, it had best performance. I looked at tire specs for 225 tires and max recommended rim size is 8.5" so it makes sense tire rack saying track only for that. But 8.5" is right in middle so might be better option than 8", just wanted thoughts on pros on cons of 8.5" vs 8" for 225 tires. I would be sticking to 17" wheels.

Yes, a 8.5 will help optimize a 225 for outright lap time. This isn't free, one thing you're giving up is sidewall compliance which means it is easier to damage a wheel or tire when you drop a wheel.

Does outright lap time outweigh making wheels more consumable would be a question to ask yourself to help decide

My suggestion would be to pick the wheel you like first, if it has an 8.5" then that's great because you can maximize your tire's performance. If not, I wouldn't consider it to be a deal breaker because you likely won't be able to see/feel/measure the performance difference between an 8" and 8.5" wheel. Your tire choice will have a significantly greater impact on performance than any potential gains by running a slightly wider wheel.