According to Reuters, 86.5% of new car sales in the UK were purchased using some form of finance, so I guess that very few people can afford any car by this logic...
As an owner of both a MY14FR and MY19CUPRA (both owned outright) and owner of previous lukewarm hatches/estates from the VAG brands (GTD, VRS, FR - 170 PD & CR, 150 & 184 CR), when making steady progress on an open road with no traffic there is not too much between them, with the exception that the diesels are nose heavy and have a tendency to understeer.
However, it’s the acceleration of the
CUPRA that sets these models apart; from a standing start, overtaking or out of a bend, it would leave any of them a significant distance behind, as would be expected for a model of similar weight, but with 50-100% increase in PS, and comparable torque figures across a bigger rev range.