Interesting reading.
Front ARB won't help much if at all. I'm not 100% sure about MR cars, but if suspension geometry is similar to N5 then front ARB won't work there, especially on not very smooth gravel. N5 is quite similar to R5 Fiesta where also front ARB is not working.
I don't know the MR gear ratios, but that might be the case. Also it's not only about the ratios, lack of grip on lower gears is much related to diffs, also active diff if MR use that (as N5 does).
And difference between base Skoda and evo version is not that big for average driver, so it's clever decision to buy cheaper car and do more mileage instead.