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From just a size standpoint, the 245/45/17 are way too tall. They'll effectively raise your gearing about 6% compared to the stock tires, which means 6% less torque at the wheels at any given RPM. Also your speedo will read 6% slow, so when it says 70 mph you'll actually be doing over 74. A 225/40 is more like what you want height wise.
As for the front, I have 17X7's with a 38mm offset and 215/45/17's, and I can't fit a pencil between the inner sidewall and the coilovers. You could get a wheel with less offset to fit bigger rubber, but overdo it and it can screw up where the steering axis crosses the contact patch and make the car wander all over the place.
And I agree with uiuc420, getting a staggered setup is a waste of money unless you have a SR. It does make the car understeer a tad more, and I hate not being able to rotate my tires when the rears start wearing on the inside. Plus you don't want a staggered setup with the same size wheels all around. The front sidewalls will be bowed in, which is fine, but the rears will be bowed out which makes the tire squirm around more and is bad for handling. I notice a lot of autocrossers and drifters use wider wheels and skinnier tires so the tire is sort of "streched" over the rim, which would seem to me to make handling much sharper and more responsive.
I say go with 215/40's for racing or 215/45's for street use, all the way around. And I'm not sure how 7.5" wheels are supposed to fit, I definately think they would hit the springs on my car, but I guess people are running around with them so maybe I'm wrong.
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