The only way you can get away with 10 or 11:1 compression and a supercharger is very low boost and or timing. The detonation we all can hear occurs much later in the ignition event than incipient detonation.
Detonation in an n/a engine is tantamount to a tack hammer. Detonation in a blown gas engine is equivalent to using a short handled 5lb sledge hammer. Incipient detonation is undetectable by the human ear and falls somewhere between the carpet hammer and the 5lb sledge (but favors the sledge) and can do both impressive and considerable damage over time to pistons, blocks and heads.
This is what incipient detonation does to pistons over
thousands of miles;
This engine did not smoke, felt responsive to the throttle but not surprisingly a little lazy. The thing that saved the throttle response was a PD blower. BTW notice how good the skirt looks. This was an example of a tuner (a big name one) who early on in his professional career subscribed to the mean is lean school of thought and produced tunes that felt very responsive to the throttl, until you put the engine under load. Then it was, well not so much ...
Over time, the slightly lean mixture, the occasional tank of not so good gas etc, etc slowly will eat away at the pistons. If this happens in an iron block you have the extra added attraction of ultimately cracking the block between the cylinders and/or down into the main webs.
In the end everyone is entitled to their own opinion about what is safe. The ultimate arbiter however is the engine. If it doesn't like what you are doing or how you are doing it, it will not matter what anyone says, thinks, or writes — or who you are ... The incipient detonation will eventually catch up with the engine and cost someone a fair amount of cash to repair the damage.
The small amount (if any) of additional power obtained by engaging in an unscripted dance of death with detonation is vanishingly small compared to what the motor is capable of when built, fueled, and tuned correctly and safely.
There is no need to play Russian Roulette with a blown gas engine — especially with more than one bullet in the gun.
Ed
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