91/92oct vrs. 87oct tunes

I haven't performed any studys that would actually be credible, but I can tell you that if you understand just the facts alone between 87 octane and 91+ octane, you'd know that higher octane simply can be compressed more before it will spontaneously combust.

So unless our PCM's automatically continue to advance timing for us until detonation is present, then back it off (which would be a great feature, but the way I understand our PCM, is not the case,) then theoretically, there'd be no benefit to running a higher octane gasoline in a naturally aspirated car with stock timing and compression. Like you said, if you're planning on advancing the timing, then sure, you'll gain a few ponies with higher octane and advanced timing.