Hmmm, no cockpit view and only talking about visual vs performance tuning. That doesn't seem to jive with "...TrueFeel Handling System will use real physics to hit a sweetspot between accessibility and simulation and deliver handling that is approachable yet challenging to master."
The "sweetspot between accessibility and simulation" part tends to make it sound like driver assists will be optional, but with the Shift/Shift 2 type games, they're usually accompanied by lots of performance settings. Any game with anything NEAR simulation handling really NEEDS performance tuning.
Now it would be one thing if they were just holding off giving all the details until they're sure how elaborate the tuning will be, esp given so many arcade racers have no clue how to use it, but you can't help but think red flag when they boldly say they've dropping cockpit view entirely, as if to say, "We're building it around the primarily arcade audience."
So, in essence, I'm more concerned about the styling of the game, than the omission of cockpit view. Driving cams can usually be modded in, and have been in past Codies games. If they build the game around one driving style more than another though, there's not much you can do about it. I guess it's all up to their interpretation of "sweet spot", but when you consider how much different cockpit view driving feels, the handling can't help but be somewhat skewed without it.