IN THE WORLD OF MOTORS
The materials of the section were prepared by Dmitry POSTNIKOV and Mikhail TEPLOV
TOYOTA PICNIC
The fashion for UPV (station wagons of increased capacity) is gradually conquering Japan. Some companies took a slightly different path, focusing not on OLA as such, but on recreational vehicles. From the definition it is clear that when designing these machines, special attention is paid to the capacity of the passenger compartment and luggage compartment, the convenience of landing, comfort, and the possibility of rest for passengers during movement. In addition, the Picnic, which is presented here, is slightly smaller and significantly cheaper than the prestigious Previa model, as it was created on the basis of the Karina passenger model. The latter circumstance predetermined the main parameters of the small-sized UPV chassis - a front-wheel drive layout with a transversely mounted power unit, independent front suspension and the so-called semi-independent rear wheel suspension.
In Western Europe, there is great interest in UPV: over the past 10 years, their sales have increased from 40 to 260 thousand units. Therefore, the barely appeared novelty the next year was presented in Europe. The "picnic" is more compact than European cars of this class (the exception is the "Renault Megan-Senik"), and is equipped only with individual seats - two seats in a row. Therefore, the car has only four full comfortable seats and two additional folding seats in the luggage compartment. The maximum luggage compartment volume is 0.66 mz in a four-seater and 0.88 mz in a two-seater. On the roof there are guide rails for attaching an additional luggage carrier. Fortunately, the carrying capacity of the car is high - it reaches 820 kg as standard. The total weight of the towed trailer equipped with brakes is up to 1500 kg.
European data
(in brackets - with an automatic transmission).