Having played the "actual" game now rather than just the tech demos, I think the potential of the engine is being wasted in just plain racing, atleast in the current state.
Since the game is obviously more arcade than sim, it would have been much more fun if the mechanics had been more Twisted Metal/Vigilante 8-like with silly powerups and weapons and such. That would have made it possible to have so much more fun with the destruction engine, blowing up buildings in front of you and driving through them etc.
Plain Flatout like racing just seems like... a horrible waste, knowing what the game engine is really capable of. Oh well, I've gotten my moneys worth just screwing around in the tech demos.