My vote is for the
280 I have no plans to ever sell mine its far to much fun.
The
280 Stage one (just needs a map no other hardware) will give you 375 bhp with no other hardware required.
Both cars with that sort of map will need decent rubber to keep the power on the street and the
280 should have an upgraded dog bone mount to stop wheel hop.
I also think the
280 is better on Fuel that the MK2, I would personally only consider the DSG Box
However there is a price difference in buying the cars and from what i have seen you can buy a mapped car and save yourself some cash (as you never get back what you put into it).
I have a stage 3 map on my
280 and Fuel is high 30's on the motorway and 10/11 on a track day when you are really pushing it so its not going to kill you on petrol (although you will need to use V Power or Tesco Momentum).
If you get the right car the
280 Comes with lots of goodies, Heated Seats, Adaptive Cruise Control, LED Lights (Facelift cars have better LED's), Limited Slip Diff and Dynamic Chasis control (comfort, sport or full blown Cupra that changes gear box, engine, steering, suspension).
The MQ Series has a good module system so there is lots of stuff you can turn on using VCDS/
OBD11 including adjusting the Limited Slip Diff
The car comes with lots of safety features and if you want to know what its like driving check out my fav video
This is a drivers car and is a lot of fun, DSG Farts are great but I would suggest getting an open code air intake system as it gives you great feedback in the cabin without being in your face.
However i am very biased, You should take both cars out for a drive first to see how the feel to you and also talk to insurance companies to see relative cost's
For the MK2 Check out this build thread
https://forums.seatcupra.net/index.php?threads/bye-fr-hello-speed-blue-mk2-cupra-r.435417/ its a great car.