Sensor in 03 Runner to regulate pinging?

I was reading an article and read that there was a sensor in many vehicles these days that regulate pinging depending on what gas you buy. Does anyone know if the 03 Runners have this? The reason I ask is that it discussed that when there is excessive pinging it can make you lose horsepower and mpg. I am running a V6 03 SE and I am only getting 15.3 mpg which is HORRIBLE since about 80% of my driving is highway. I had the dealer look at it and got the "its normal" routine. It has excessive pinging, or so I guess it has been diagnosed as, and you can hear the engine having to rev harder to just get going. Something is not right. I thought maybe if there was a sensor that it wasn't performing properly as this didn't do it the first year I had it. Looking to trade it in for a 05 V8 SE and hopefully never hear this again. Can anyone help? Sorry so wordy...

Yes, there is a knock sensor in your engine. It will cause the ECM to retard the ignition timing if it detects pinging. This reduces your performance and gas mileage.

Try using 93 octane gasoline and see if it improves your mileage and performance. I assume you are using lower octane gasoline.

If it performs normally with the higher octane gas, I think you can assume you need it for optimum performance and it is "normal". If it doesn't help, I would take it to another dealer and try again.

I have tried the higher octane and no difference. I was reading an article and stumbled upon the knock sensor thing. I tried up to 93 octane and no difference. I am also getting 15 mpg on my V6 which doesn't seem right. I will have it looked at again and see what they say.Thanks.