The Toyota Picnic’s 2.0-litre naturally-aspirated petrol engine, and 2.2-litre diesel, weren’t particularly impressive. Toyota designed both powertrains to be economical, rather than sporty: Making no more than 128 horsepower (90 diesel), the Picnic takes about 11 seconds to reach 0-60 mph with its four-speed manual gearbox (a 5-speed manual was available ).
On the other hand, the drivetrain is fuel-efficient, as the petrol-powered Picnic achieves around 25 mpg (up to 9.5 litres/100km). The diesel is more expensive thanks to 31 mpg (7.7 liters / 100km). However, the Picnic feature is safe and reliable. It received a safety rating of four out of five stars from the European New Car Assessment Programme, and received a high-quality design and reliability.
According to Auto ABC’s research, the Toyota Picnic had an 8.3% failure rate, and only 3.3% had defects in the roadworthiness test. These numbers are impressive, considering that the cars were about six years old at the time of the inspection.
Toyota UK’s PR and Social department has come up with a one-of-a-kind Toyota Picnic Sport Turbo. This souped-up Picnic came with a 210-horsepower 3S-GTE engine from the second generation Toyota MR2 just for fun – proof that the Picnic platform can handle the most powerful and fast mods, without penalizing its reliability record.
Toyota discontinued the Picnic in 2010, but the brand’s unblemished reputation for durability and reliability continues today.