The question is, does it look nicer to you? Do you feel more in the year 2009 instead of 1990 graphics?
And still at 130+ FPS. Looking nice. See? It's madness to watch a guy drive a Ferarri and he wont get out of 1st gear.
Try- V-sync YES (full screen vertical sync in MISC menu) which might make things look smoother in the FPS department. Personally I notice it when it jumps around from 150FPS down to 90FPS. V-sync will keep at one FPS rate equal to your monito refresh rate. If your monitor is say 60HZ then the FPS will stick at 60FPS, you wont see 150FPS on a 60hz monitor, the most you can see is 60 FPS. BUT, if the FPS is out of sync of you monitor then you may notice slight tearing in the screen refresh cycles as you spin around.
Screen Tearing eg.
http://www.nhancer.com/help/images/VSync.jpg
Screen Tearing eg.
http://i7.tinypic.com/8fe5uhe.jpg
Put USER LOD up to 1.00, then things looks better to. That controls Level Of Detail. ie. More polygons and objects. Keep putting the settings up until you start to hover around the refresh rate of your monitor with a 1/2 sized grid of racers infront of your car. Well thats what I try and do. Remember testing in single player is not the same as testing in multiplayer. AI uses up heaps more CPU power that multiplay online.
(BTW v-sync will stop you FPS going above your screen's refresh rate, (60hz or 75hz) so when you are testing settings, turn off v-sync temporarially so you know what true FPS your PC is pumping out.)
edit : oh and I forgot you still have your CAR AND HELMET SKINS [compressed] Change that to FULL