It should however be noted that detonation (knocking, pinking) occur after the air/fuel is ignited by the spark. The high temperature/pressure caused by the combustion makes the fuel to self ignite.
When the air/fuel mixture is ignited by a hot surface it's called surface ignition, which can be separated into pre-ignition (before the spark) and post ignition (after the spark).
Octane is resistance to detonation, not to surface ignition.
Flame velocity is similar for super and regular, energy content and density are marginally higher for super (typically caused by the higher aromatic content).