Asking a race car driver (or his mechanic) about 87 or 89 octane gasoline when the lowest rating his 14.0:1 engine can run is above 103 is simply rediculous. Like using a race oil because driver X uses it--race engines are torn down every 500 miles!
Back to the topic at hand.
My Ferrari F355B is a little picky on gas. I can tell the difference between Chevron and Phillips by sound! I can't feel any performance difference, but the note of the engine actually does change! In addition, when I an at a race track, I have access to 96 noLead and 104 noLead racing gasolines--and while these mixtures smell just like race gas from way back when--and I can hear a difference in the note of the engine--there is no measurable performance difference.
On the other hand, once the engine has learned the 104 noLead race gas (like on the drive home), and I run the tank down and add the typical 92-93 octane premium; the engine positively stumbles at idle until the computer recognizes the situation and starts to correct (10 seconds or so).
5 weeks ago I was driving the F355B through the high country near 4 corners. The best gas I could find was running 87 and 88 octane (7,000 feet). The car never noticed because the air is thin enough that even with 11:1 compression the cylinder pressures were moderate and reasonable. Down here where I live (680 ft) 87 gas would not run very well at all even with all the adaptive engine controls; 89 is Ok-ish, 87 is clunk city.
