Big block V8’s and premium gasoline

mpfireman wrote:
With todays engines designed to burn reg gas, and you now switching to a premium fuel is a waste of your money. The marginal difference you will see in performance is not worth the additional expense spent on these premium fuels.
Engines designed to run on premium fuel will run on reg gas, BUT performance will suffer. Engines designed to run on reg fuels will have little effect on performance when switching to premium fuels.

That wasn't my question.

I'm well aware of why some engines require high octane gas and others don't. I'm also aware that sometimes an engine that would otherwise require high octane gas will run without knocking if the spark is retarded, or it has an anti-knock sensor to automatically retard the spark. I'm also aware that the larger diameter the piston (like the pistons in a 460 V8) the more knock-prone the engine will be.

Again, my question is, can the timing be advanced for better performance and gas mileage, even though doing so may necessitate the need for high octane gasoline?
Secondly, if anyone has done this, did it improve both performance and mileage?

It made an incredible difference in my sons Jeep Cherokee (not having the anti-knock spark retard kick in) that I'm thinking that if the engine in my RV is retimed for performance, rather than just to allow it to run on regular, it would greatly help the performance and gas mileage. Of course without an anti-knock sensor, I'd probably be forced to burn premium, but it might be worth it.

Steve