Depends on what you mean by better. Do you mean faster? Less maintenance? Stronger?
Riding a bike with nicer components is a lot nicer. Some would argue that a nicer bike is not just nicer components. Some would say it doesn't matter.
I personally would rather spend as little as possible at once and do the break and upgrade to a nicer part route. Yes, my bikes have come out to be better bikes, but I can say positively that a stock bike with the same component levels I upgraded to would be better than my bikes with the component upgrades due to nicer frames (as of model year 2005/6).
On a side note, I think your bike is steel. You might not want to submerge it. The bearings probably don't like that either.