Your right let's keep it simple. Just got the car so just a LITTLE more power is what I'm looking for. That's why I want the engine hotter by about 20 degrees F. I'm not looking to put to much into it, a $10 thermostat (if anyone has one) to make the mixture burn faster. If your engine is already running right (not detonating) you won't get any benefit from a higher octane unless you or your ECM advances the timing or increase the temp of the engine. I don't know yet if the 2002 Mirage I'm working on has a knock sensor, but if it does it may advance the timing automatically. Some cars do, more to compensate for low octane situations, but it works both ways. They advance the timing until they detect a knock, then retard it slightly, that's how they compensate for different fuels.
PS. You don't have to spend $5.00 per gallon on Sunoco race fuel. Use toulene as an additive. You can find it at any paint store. Here's a link describing the ratios:
http://www.team.net/sol/tech/octane_b.html
It works too. My friend built a 504 CID 700hp engine intended to run 93 (street gas), but it was detonating pretty bad. Had to retard the ignition when he wasn't running $5.00 per gal racing gas (MSD ignition). He heard about toulene so he tried it, worked perfect. He started with the full mixture shown at the website above, but now he only uses the toulene and dropped the other parts of the recipe.