The Xalken is a front-wheel-drive hatch in the mould of a late-90s Saab 900. Its weight sits forward (roughly 62/38) and it makes only modest power, but it earns its keep with balance — a snappy, all-round handler you drive on momentum and line rather than brute force.
How it drives
Low power changes how you approach it: you can’t blast out of mistakes, so you protect corner speed and keep the car flowing. Like every FWD car it will understeer if you ask the loaded front for drive too early, so you rotate on entry — lift off or trail a little brake to bring the rear round, point the nose, then unwind and feed the modest power in straight. Because there isn’t much power to overwhelm the front, clean lines and carried speed matter more here than raw traction.
It is described as a snappy all-rounder, and the “snappy” is worth respecting: the light rear can come round quickly on a lift, which is exactly the rotation you want when you’re expecting it and a handful when you’re not. Off the line, watch for wheelspin — a nose-heavy front-driver can light up the fronts on a hard launch and bog its start.
In a pack the Xalken is a nimble mid-weight. It won’t out-muscle the big cars, so it wins by being tidy and quick through the corners where they struggle, using its handling to stay clean rather than trading hits.