General rule of thumb is you don't want the section width of the tire to be more than 2" wider than the wheel if you want the tread to make full contact with the pavement. Gotta do some inches to mm conversions. 25.4 mm = 1". So an 8" wheel is about 203 mm wide. Add 2" to that (about 51mm) and you have 203mm + 51mm = 254mm. So, as stated above - 255 section width is about as big as you wanna go on an 8" wheel. The 245 is close to optimum.
You can mount bigger tires - but between the contact patch issues and the extra weight of the larger tire, they may be hurting you more than helping you.
I had some 275/40 Kumho Victoracers mounted on the 17x8 99/00 Standard GT rim. They did bulge over the rim a fair amount. The fronts rubbed the fenders (rolled and flared)
Ran a Good Year 275/40/17 on an '01 Cobra 17x8 wheel; too much bulge and poor wear pattern. On the same wheel, I'm running a Hankook 255/40/17; much better in all respects. I'm running the same 'Kook in a 245/45/17 size on a '96 Cobra 17x8 wheel. Like the looks and feel of the 255 much better.
Try a 255/45/17 tire, that fits the 17x8" Cobra wheels well. I have those on my 91 Mark VII, and the size was suggested to me by John Griggs in a phone call. They used that size in their SCCA racing Mustangs, on the 17x8" wheels.
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