Drive 70% of the time by myself, 25% with the wife, 5% with 3 or 4 adults.
Need to tow 1500 lb boat once a week, about 10 miles each way, flat florida terrain, only hill is pulling the boat up the boat ramp.
Will the 4 cyl handle it ?
(Like the fuel economy of a 4)

 

Whats the gvw on the vehicle?

 

Yes it will be enough. The bigger issue might be the weight on the rear making it hard for the front wheels to gain grip when on a wet ramp. With 4WD and in lock mode, it shouldn't be a problem.

 

I can keep the tongue weigth at 100 lbs or so. I have been towing with a 6 cylinder car without any issues.
Some of the reviews indicate that the 4 cyl is very sluggish which makes me ask the question.

 

i towed 2000 pounds 30,000 miles with a 130hp 4 cyl cavalier.

you will be fine

 

You should be okay towing the boat as long as you drive sensibly. As far as the 4 cyl being sluggish, we've taken our ES on several trips including going up 7% grades for several miles with no problems. I can hold my speed at 65mph on a 7% grade with the tach at about 3500 rpm.

 

Sounds like the rpm runs high, I noticed that on a Mazda. The Rav4 and CRV go into overdrive and drop to around 2000 rpm. Does the high rpm wear the engine out faster.

 

Actually 3500 rpm isn't that high. Redline on the 4 cyl is 6500 rpm so you're not any where close to harming the engine. On a flat road my ES is around 2000 rpm at highway speed, but I doubt the CR-V, Rav4, or any other 4cyl engine SUV/CUV is going to be able to climb a 7% grade (at highway speed) at only 2000 rpm.

 

I test drove a Mazda 6 and the rpm on the highway, level, was around 3000 which was surprising. Glad to here that isn't the case on the Outlander.

 

I'd be more concerned about the CVT transmission in the 4 cylinder than the engine itself. I have no idea how that would perform.

Notice the lower RPMs for maximum torque in the XLS compared to the ES.

If you're just towing every now and then and you don't plan on getting a larger boat - I wouldn't see it being a problem but you're right near the max weight for the ES. Once you add gear, coolers, anchors, etc the boat weight climbs pretty quickly.

The specs on the 2010 from the Canadian (double check American vehicle stats) website for the ES 2WD:
Horsepower @ RPM (BHP) 168 hp @ 6,000 rpm
Torque @ RPM (lb-ft.) 167 lb.-ft. @ 4,100 rpm

Weights 2010 Outlander ES 2WD

GVWR (kg/lbs) 2,070 kg / 4564 lbs.
Curb Weight (kg/lbs) 1,535 kg / 3,384 lbs.
Weight Distribution (% front/rear) @ curb weight 56 / 44
Towing Capacity (kg / lbs) 680 kg. / 1,500 lbs.
Maximum Trailer Tongue Load (kg / lbs) 68 kg / 150 lbs.

XLS 4WD in comparison:

Horsepower @ RPM (BHP) 230 hp @ 6,250 rpm
Torque @ RPM (lb-ft.) 215 lb.-ft. @ 3,750 rpm

Weights 2010 Outlander XLS 4WD

GVWR (kg/lbs) 2,350 kg / 5,181 lbs.
Curb Weight (kg/lbs) 1,715 kg / 3,780 lbs.
Weight Distribution (% front/rear) @ curb weight 56 / 44
Towing Capacity (kg / lbs) 1,588 kg. / 3,500 lbs.
Maximum Trailer Tongue Load (kg / lbs) 159 kg / 350 lbs.

I'm not sure what they did to the suspension to allow a 350 pound tongue weight on the XLS unless they just took it at 10% of the maximum load.
I bought an '09 XLS since I plan to tow a boat eventually. It did hurt a bit to buy a vehicle for about 5% of my life. There are more hills to tackle up here in Canada which helped me make my decision. Also the 4wd on the launch ramp will help but apparently you can get an extension to your ball to keep the car out of the water/slime.

Cheers,
Chris