don't know if it's an example of screen tearing or not. I've got the newest drivers for my gpu (gtx 260) and updates for rage. enabling vsync helps it but makes the game very choppy and slow, especially when driving. I've tried adjusting the settings on my gpu but havent
gotten anything to work yet.
any suggestions?

Turn down anisotropic filtering to 4x. RAGE does not support anything higher (like 8x or 16x).

i would say, turn vsync ON

In the Nvidia control panel "manage 3D settings" add a game profile for RAGE, by
scrolling to the rage.exe once added go to vertical sync and set to forced on.