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You should use premium on anything turob or supercharged(unless its diesel)
List of cars I can think of that require premium
1. Mercedes
2. BMW
3. Porsche
4. Cadillac
5. I think corvettes need it
6. Vipers/SRT-10
7. Ford Cobra/GT
8. Bently
9. Rolls Royce
10. Jaguar
11. Rover
12. Volvo
13. Lexus
14. Ferrari
15. Lamborghini
16. Buggati
I know there are more, but I cannot think of them now.
If you hear the pinging and it is there when you are under load and doesnt go away, then it can and will damage modern cars, pre ignition is pre ignition. The knock sensor should eliminate it immediatly if your using the proper octane fuel. Go with the mfgs recommended octane requirments to keep from having to buy yourself a new engine.
Occasional pinging should not harm new engines, as they are generally designed for it to occasionally ping (current calibrations have a very fine tolerance for fuel), without harming the internals, if it constantly pings, well then yes you will most likely have a problem...