Quote:

We did about 8 pulls on the dyno and he changed out the jets a couple of times and set the timing to 35.



Along with all the other factors already mentioned in above posts,
the setting of the ignition timing throughout all the load and rpm points,
is critical to avoiding detonation.

If you are willing to sacrifice some low to mid-rpm full throttle torque,
more static/dynamic compression ratio can be run with limited octane.

The new productions engines
like 11.7 CR in the Ford Escape Hybrid
and 13 CR in the Mazda 'SkyActiv' engine
depend on retarded ignition timing
and a carefully mapped out timing over all load and rpm operation,
to run on 87 octane.