I didn't say there was less ENERGY in the fuel, I said it was less POWERFUL. It burns slightly slower (regardless of what you say), with less BANG. The bigger the BANG, the more power.
From Hemmings Daily...
"Higher octane gas is processed through additional steps that further refine the blend and cause it to burn more slowly than lower octanes."

You just HAD to make me Google stuff, and now I'm irritated that you didn't DO IT YOURSELF!

 

But I did Google and found nothing that supported your point.

As to octane rating being related to the flame front velocity (burning slightly lower) which I did mention, nothing could be further from the truth. To believe that a slow burning fuel would control/eliminate detonation demonstrates a lack of understanding of combustion. This confusion is common.

Here's some reading:

Whitfield Oil Company Flame Speed, Octane Number & Horsepower

Octane is not how fast a fuel burns

A little more in depth

Tech-Flame Speed Octane & Power.pdf

No need to get irritated.

 

 

Can't comment on engine life, but my best guess would be another 20/30 rwhp when squeezing out the max on race fuel.

 

We'll know soon enough. It's been a while since I pulled a baseline dyno after the pulley was installed so I'll get another one before I start loading tunes, and then a dyno pull for each additional tune. There's even a valet tune, ha ha! When I fill the tank with 112 RON, there may still be a gallon or two of 98 RON so not sure how much of an affect that will have as that would be a 12% or less dilution which would bring it down to 111 or 110 RON.

Based on what I read and been told, I would guess it will be somewhere 50-80 RWHP (tune, pulley & high octane) and with 200 cell cats, an additional 20-30 torque, so probably about 100 over stock perhaps?

What kind of additional stress and wear do you think this will put on the motor, transmission & drive line?

 

Well I've put a little more power down for many miles, and I don't see an issue there purely based on that alone, but the sharper a tune (leaner/more advance) is where it becomes tricky.