Stock fronts are 7" wide, not 7.5". 225/45-17 is the max width you should run on them. 245/40s need an 8" wide wheel anyway.

If you want to stay within tire manufacterer's recommended widths, 255 is the widest you should run on a stock 8.5" wide rear wheel.

Different tire makes/models may have different recommended wheel widths for a given size, so double-check that your wheels are in the recommended range for the specific tire you're buying.

 

I also don't think anything wider than the 255/40R17 makes sense on the car. You end up increasing weight and the height of the tire.

 

You're right, for some reason I thought AP2 fronts were 7.5, but apparently not. 8" is ideal for a 245, but they fit with only a small amount of bulge and a small loss of turn in on 7.5. As I said, the ranges I listed were ball park safe ranges, but the ideal is not to be at the extremes. For instance, the 7" wide front could safely run 235, but the trade off in loss of feedback is probably not worth it for most people over 225 or 215.

I agree with checking the wheel size range for any given tire type. Tire rack lists the wheel range under specs. It's a good place to verify appropriate sizes.

 

Back in the day wheel width was wider then tread width to improve sticking. Perhaps with new tire technology things have changed.

 

I just bought a used set of TE37
17x7.5 +48 & 17x8.5 +50 rubber on them currently is 215 and 255 and low on tread. I'm at stock height and wondering if I can fit 235 and 265?

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I have the same sizing but im running 225/45 and 255/40. Anything size bigger will increase the height and weight. Not worth it.

 

The other thing is even though Honda used 215/45R17 and 245/40R17 the tires were very different than other tires in the same sizes. The front tire they used was very narrow for the size and the rear was very wide. If you go with the 225/45R17 and 255/40R17 you are going to have about the same amount of stagger front to rear as what came on the car stock. With the advantage of more tire on the ground.
If I can help let me know.