That's not how I saw it. He was making Batman choose, alright - but Batman thought he was choosing who to save, when in reality the Joker made him choose who would die. By choosing to save Rachel, he actually chose here to be the one to die - the Joker knew Batman would make it while the police weren't fast enough. He did get to see his "Batpod" in action, and it was pretty damn fast.

That's another thing I'd like to see excised from the movie - any mention of the name "Batpod." It sounds quite stupid IMO. I don't think they ever called the Batmobile "Batmobile" in the movie. It's a vehicle he uses, another high-tech gadget, a tool - but we don't need to know its name. We can just be left to think "Batcycle" in our heads, the way we think "Batmobile" when we see his car.