For many years cars have had Knock sensors, which prevent any issue using a lower octane gas where premium was recommended.
So, even though the engines (not the cars) have had knock sensors, they still recommend premium.
Sure, one of the reasons is likely that the carmakers are being paid to recommend premium.
One of the other reasons cannot possibly be, that it actually is better for the engine to use premium?
I got away with
NOT wearing my seat belt, for DECADES.
(I was a NYC cabdriver / livery driver / chauffeur, back when it was perfectly legal for us to not wear our seatbelts inside NYC - prior to 2016.)
I would never recommend to ANYONE to not wear their seatbelt, ever. Just cause you can get away with doing it, doesn't mean you should do it.
Knock sensors don't prevent knock.
They DETECT knock - far sooner than a human ear - and RESPOND TO KNOCK by retarding timing, and sometimes by wasting a lil gas, to stop the knock.
However, most pcms / ecms do NOT learn this in order to prevent any knock. In other words, this can keep happening, over and over again.
I use Regular in my Lexus sedan and my V12 BMW with no issues that I'm aware of.
So, you could be having issues that you are NOT aware of, like knock that the knock sensors detected, before you became aware of the knock.
In fact you may never become aware ...
Cast pistons do not recover from any knock event; the damage, however small, is cumulative in all cases.
Eventually, a cast piston exposed to too much knock will shatter, especially if the knock occurs on the same spot on the piston.
Forged pistons do recover from knock - except if the singular knock event is itself catastrophically enormous -
because their molecular structure is far more resilient, like a well-forged sword that can be repeatedly bent out of and back into fighting shape.
Of course, if you never accumulate enough knock, you will say you never experienced any problems ...