and age is exactly the reason I decided to get new tires last fall... the ones that were on were going on 4 yrs old, and starting to get cracks in between treads - meaning dried out. Still had lots of tread left, but cracking is bad
Sadly, we did not get the dual range in Foresters here in the USA - in any form. the last ones to have dual range here were the old 80s GLs
the 95 Legacy I had I did a Forester strut swap on, and used the Forester wheels too, so it sat quite a bit taller than stock. it still felt more planted on the road to me.
The Forester does fine, don't get me wrong, especially with good snow tires, it just feels different after driving Legacy wagons for so long.
as for manual vs auto - i would love to have a manual again, but foot problems preclude that... can't use a clutch anymore, too painful.