I was following Forester owners' forum for a while, since I had considered this vehicle in the past.
My opinion of the Forester XT is that it is too big for me, no longer fast as it used to be, especially 2 gens back, that it has questionable reliability with its new FA engine (oil consumption), it comes only with CVT which might be annoying to some, it will not get the claimed MPG and the extra power is not worth it.
That said, I do believe it has a better AWD system, but it still does not have a 'low' setting and sufficient clearance to make it a real off-road vehicle, i.e. still a 'soft-roader'.
2 gens ago, the Forester XT was smaller, lighter and *much* faster. This generation is even bigger/heavier than the outgoing one and as a result is significantly slower with the new FA turbo engine. In this engine Subaru made all efforts to reduce internal friction to a point where the rings after break-in might leak a little oil and as a result the engine might burn over a quart of oil in a single oil change period (this is from BRZ owner forum, which uses a similar engine).
Yes, Subaru has a reputation for reliability because of their now gone EJ engines, which they used almost unchanged for 20 years. Now, all their vehicles use either FB or FA engines, which are new. FA engine was first used with the BRZ - it is very new. Also, Subaru has used the same 4AT for about the same time. The CVT transmission is pretty new too (so far, it seems reliable). The one in the XT is all new, because it was made specifically such that it could handle high torque of the engine.
Overall, I believe the CX-5 2.5L would be more fun to drive, especially in turns, will be only a tad slower than the Forester XT, have sufficiently good AWD system for people that don't drive off-road, have *much* better actual MPG and only slightly smaller in the back.
The XT is bigger, with better AWD system and with more power which does not translate well to speed through a smooth CVT.