Knocking is usually pre-ignition and higher octane fuel will reduce that. Knock sensors are one of inputs to the engine control algorithm’s “how much can I mess with timing” game.

It could also be that you’re getting older and you’re developing a wider world view. I’ve been a corporate shill for a while now. When I hired in there were a lot of messes, but I was young/optimistic/saw a lot of opportunity and was rewarded when I cleaned things up. Over a decade later, this place is a mess. I’m coming to think that it’s stuck in a rut of process/technical debt and Conway’s law and that even though leadership has been saying things are changing for the whole time I’ve been here, we’re really just getting more entrenched.

There’s very little to run at your fuel consumption rate, so go for it!

I am with you 100% and you’re living the dream. I am jealous, but my present commute would never accomodate this :(

Higher octane gas is not more energy dense than normal gas. Octane is a measure of the fuel’s ability to resist combustion. Some more highly strung engines require higher octane fuel. Others will run fine on “regular”, but have sensors that enable them to do things like advance the ignition timing, change cam timing and phasing, etc to make more power with higher octane fuel. The final camp of engines is optimized for regular fuel and putting higher octane fuel in them won’t measurably impact performance (power, fuel economy), but it might make the engine sound a little nicer due to reduced pinging. Not that you would even hear that in a modern vehicle thanks to all the optimization and sound deadening.

But! At $2/week in fuel you have very little to lose. If it’s fuel injected and has coil on pack ignition, it might even be able to take a touch more power by running more aggressive ignition timing.