Thanks for the heads-up on the clutch-line wear thru. I'll check it closely tonight. I had a 2002 Forester with a dual-mass flywheel. The whole flywheel/ clutch assembly was replaced twice under warranty, the second time back to a solid flywheel as per the factory update, with a softer clutch. Seems they were having similar issues, started with a "squeeak" with clutch release when taking off, assumed it was just a dodgy thrust bearing at first but was apparently wear and friction between the flywheel parts.
There's a decent tech explanation here:
http://moodle.student.cnwl.ac.uk/moo...flywheels.html
and an animation here: