People who suck up what all the magazines and forum gurus say simply don't understand what it takes to make an engine run with no trouble whatsoever from detonation. I'll give a good example.
In 1972, compression ratios were dropped across the board. Even the high performance engines were advertised at "only" 9:1 or a "little" more. I'll give the Chevy LT1350 as an example. It was rated in 72 at 9.3:1, yet they all came with a sticker in the window that said "THIS VEHICLE REQUIRES PREMIUM FUEL". Premium fuel in 1972 was between 98-101 octane and it was LEADED. The factories knew that even at "only" 9:1 or so, these engines would still see difficulty idling in traffic in stop and go situations, see heat soak and detonate.
Can it be done? Of course it can. There are iron head builds over 11:1, but they are costly with added machine work and very close tolerances. It ain't cheap to do on most "budget" builds. Chambers have to be exact. Deck heights have to be perfect and even. Valves need to be all perfect on the seat and at the same level.
IMO, a lot of these guys boasting about high compression on pump gas are simply flat out liars. Just because a magazine says you can do it, or some forum guru says he has 11:1 and revs his junkbox to 7K on a regular basis, doesn't make it true.
Don't buy into the bullshit. You'll regret it.
