Gas Question, What effect?

On a low compression engine, or with a higher octane rated fuel you can actually advance the timing past the point of peak power without audible detonation.

Octane actually has no bearing on the rate at which a fuel burns. Octane is a reference hydrocarbon, and your "octane number" is an index which describes a fuel's resistance to detonation in a reference engine (a specific ASTM design in laboratory conditions) The actual percentage of octane in the fuel is in no way related to the octane number. Furthermore it is the caloric value of the fuel, that is the heat energy contained within it, which cause an increase or decrease in power. Some racing fuels are blended to make more power, for a given octane number.

Heck spend a couple bucks on the expensive stuff and see if it makes a difference. I wouldnt expect too much however.