Is premium fuel required or recommended for this model?

Up to 2011 its 91 octane, 2012 up is 87 octane.

yes..even if it was a 2016 id run 91..

This is just for your information... http://www.cartalk.com/content/premium-vs-regular-1

Higher octane fuel is harder to burn vs lower octain fuel. Therefore you can compress it more without the added heat build up pre-detonating the fuel slamming the valves shut before they are ready to close. This is the engine knock you hear. Most modern engines have knock sensors and will regard spark timing to stop the pre- detonation and engine damage. Unless you gave a higher compression engine its money wasted.