thinking about an edge

[marcc1411]

hello, my wife is looking for a newer car, and she loves the edge. i have some questions about towing a scotty camper (15ft gaucho, the real weight is supposed to be 1300 lbs, but the title says 1500. i've not weighed it).

 

preface: i have an 05 h6 3.0L outback, it pulls the camper fine, but mpg goes to about 15 (this seems to be normal according to several people i've talked with (an edge owner, an azteck owner and a sierra owner)). i keep it at 60 on the highway, it does fine. it brakes fine, BUT hills are tough. i recently took it to a state park w/ an elevation of 1700 and i was going 35 sometimes. it has a 3000 tow rating. i figure i'm about 2000 w/ people and stuff.

 

so we are thinking an edge would be better. i've skimmed through most of the posts here, it looks like a tow package would be advisable over just installing a hitch. we pull the camper about 4-5 times a year, and i've thought that just renting a truck would be a good idea, and that frees up our newer car buying decision. when we tow, we go anywhere from 700 mi round-trip, to 500 mi round-trip, to short 20 mi trips.

 

1. would a recent edge pull better up hills than my outback?

2. is there any towing advantage w/ AWD vs FWD?

3. anyone here pull a scotty camper? they are kinda boxy and have a lot of surface area that drags.

4. would mpg be about the same, mid teens?

5. none of the models at carmax had towing packages, how much can i expect to pay? does a dealer have to do the work, or can any shop? that had 2 limiteds, 5 SEs and one SEL plus.

 

she also drove a '14 forester, knowing it would not be a towing car, and loved that. thanks for any buying help you can offer.

marc