I think the paint looked more realistic in ATi's Car demo, and the normal mapping (on the hood especially) was incredibly good at making the round details look round. Why don't they put some of that unified shader power to use on normal mapping the details so we won't see as much of the polygonal edges? It should also make the LOD engine more efficient, or at least produce better looking results.
http://media.xboxyde.com/gallery/public/1533/726_0007.jpg
That Viper isn't much farther from the "camera" than the Saleen, but the LOD is much lower on it.