Fuel problem

Yes, it could. Many people mistakenly think higher-octane gasoline has more power, but that is totally wrong. Higher octane is designed to make the fuel harder to ignite so some engines can be built with a higher compression ratio to develop more power from the gas. That higher compression results in higher temperatures in the cylinders which promotes preignition, (spark knock). The higher octane resists that preignition. That temperature rise from the compression is what we need to make diesel fuel ignite, but with gasoline it is very undesirable.

All you gain with using a higher-octane fuel is the chance a weak spark will fail to ignite it at times, resulting in misfires. If there are no misfires, you have only lost the extra dollars you wasted for the higher price.