Wheel Sizes / Offsets - Road vs Track

I know this may have been posted elsewhere specifically but I have conducted a search to no avail.
 
I recently purchased Shayno's Rosso MR2 GT Turbo Hardtop to fill the gap my N/A left when I sold it to 'Gatesys SW20'. But it has some work to be done to make it more enjoyable for use on trips and track. ( I need to use it to get to and from work til I get another work ute as this was how I justified it to the wife! haha. so thats a decent 600 odd k's each way)
 
it is fitted with 17X7.5 and 17X8.5 wheels (also has tein coil overs). front tyres (225 45 17) are scrubbing heaps on cornering and hard bumps, tyre shops seem to think theres no such thing as a 225 40 17 so I'm contemplating the option of keeping my eyes open for a set of 17X7 / 17X8 rims to fit but would like opinions on what set will give me the best balance between road going usability and agility vs doing some track work when the opportunity pops up and ties in with my work commitments...
 
so 7.5/8.5 or look for 7/8 combo?... appreciate your help.
 
Treay.

I have ordered the 215's but they are only giving me an additional 6mm clearance from the overall diameter. I hope this at least reduces the scrubbing but doubt it will eradicate it. (on the other hand im happy to be proven wrong in this instance).
 
I'm getting them fitted tomorrow so I'll post how they go.

The rubbing should be eliminated with 215 fronts. 225 fronts are frequently troublesome to fit. Much easier solution & you get to keep the lovely ssr's :)

Yeah, I did a bit a research on good tyre sizing for the car without rubbing can came to the following conclusions:
17x7.5 - 215/40/R17
17x8.5 - either 235/40/R17 (This is the legal tyre size to get for rolling diameter). Also read its better for auto-X to give the most control of the car.
              245/40/R17 - This follows the same stagger as the 92+ factory tyre stagger
              255/40/R17 - Unless your running a high hp vehicle this can cause alot of understeer due to the large stagger

The tyre shop I went to insisted I get 215 45's over a 215 40. He was of the opinion they will perform better on the car which sounded to me more like "You have been bugging me on tyre sizes for 2 days, just buy already your pissing me off" but I have little time to deliberate til I go back to work tomorrow so need to get it sorted.
 
If all goes to plan and these tyres dont scrub i'll swap down to the 40's next time round. I still have to replace the exhaust manifold and do a clutch yet so I wont go costing myself too much money on tyres if I don't need to be haha.

so I have put the 215 45's on and whilst I haven't taken it through any hard cornering, it is improved as it didnt scrub in a lot of the usual spots on the first drive. But tomorrow will be the test once i run her to work, might take the putty road then onto the bells line to make sure... 
 
cheers.