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in my opinion, the 285-40-17 would be a great alternative to the 315-35-17 for the rear tires. It's only like a quarter inch taller, which doesn't really make a difference, and it's definitely a lot cheaper. there's 3 different kuhmo tires and a BFG tire all under $150 a tire on tirerack.com in 285-40-17. in the 315-35, there's a sumitomo for $156, but the next one up is $243 a tire. I'm not counting the track/competition tires. Additionally if you're driving the car year round, they don't even make an all season tire in 315-35-17 that i can find on tire rack. In the 285-40-17, there are several, including 2 of the 4 models that are sub $150 per tire.
all of the above are true for the 275-40-r17 though too, it's cheap and there are cheap all season tires available, etc. However, the biggest reason i'd go with the 285 vs the 275 in back even though it might cost a little more money is that the rear zr1 style rims are 17x11. the tread width on a 285 is 11.22", while a 275 tire is 10.82". A tire that isn't as wide as the rim it's on not only looks goofy, but doesn't offer the best handling/performance/wear, and doesn't do much to protect the rim either against curb rash damage, etc. we're only talking about 4/10 of an inch here, but i think it's worth the extra insurance and look.
now if your rear rims are only 9 or 9.5 wide and someone shoehorned a wide assed 315 tire on them, i'd probably say go with the 275's all around because you can rotate them and if you have a blowout you can better control where the mini spare goes.
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