Removing the A/C

A couple of things:

1) Our Forester is an XT, which is a turbo (someone commented on us using a non-turbo engine).  We also had an after-market suspension put in specifically to assist with towing, which made a difference with our PUP, as well as a sway bar, class II hitch, and of course a brake controller.  We never had any issues with the engine struggling or overheating, even when climbing our local mountain range (>4000' elevation gain) in the summer.  Weight-wise, there won't be much difference between the two (2200# vs 2400#).  We also are thinking about a transmission cooler and plan to get special hitch adaptors to help with sway, etc.

2) We are still contemplating purchasing one, but without the a/c or m/w.  Based on the actual weight of the unit we almost bought at #2458 fully loaded, subtracting out the a/c and m/w at 150#, we will be roughly 2300# (I'm assuming the extra 163# over base weight is the battery, propane, etc).  To be clear, I have no intention of loading more than ~90# into the Pod to be certain we don't go over the 2400# limit of our Subaru (to be confirmed via local truck scale, free to the public in Oregon when not in use).  Water will be obtained and drained out at the campground.  Though the Forester can handle much more based on the loads towed by Europeans and Australians (with careful weight adjustments r/t tongue weight as % of total weight, etc - see prior article), we are not willing to take on the liability.

3) As for the aerodynamics, that one had me concerned for a bit.  It certainly may still be a problem that forces us to drive slower than desired or even avoid I-5, but after doing a quick Google search, I came across both posts by other Forester owners who have towed R-Pods successfully, as well as a bunch of photos of owner's TV and R-PODS.  Suffice it to say, as for drag, many of them were similar to the Forester in shape/height, and some were officially rated at the same or lower tow capacity than the Forester. 

Ultimately, lucky for us, there is a company only 2 hours from us that rents R-Pods, and they have a 172 available.  We're going to take it for a test run to be sure nothing scary pops up.  

Again, thanks to all the advice.  We'll keep you posted on how the rental goes, and if we end up purchasing.