I ran 11.1:1 on 89 octane and 38 degrees of timing with a 350 SBC in a Nova. The trick was that I had a great cooling system, Brodix RR200's with CNC profiled chambers, excellent ignition and a pretty stout cam. 298/302, 256/
[email protected] .562/.562 lift on a 108 L/S.
I tried to get it to detonate and I couldn't. I once put it in 5th gear, dropped to around 1500 RPM and floored it up a big hill in the middle of summer boooooooooooooooggggggggggggg. I figured if that didn't make it detonate, nothing would. It never did. Ive had the heads off of it and the pistons looked fine. No signs at all of anything bad. I often wondered if I could have gotten away with another full point of compression. I still have the engine so maybe someday ill find out.
the one lingering problem I had was that it would occasionally after a long drive like to run on for just a second. I always shut it off with the clutch though. I never did figure that out.....