DAVID Potter, 51, is a very clever man, and more importantly a very clever consulting suspension engineer.

Since 1996, the English-born French expat has worked on championship-winning rally cars and touring cars in Europe and the Antipodes alike, and dealt with icons such as the late Colin McRae on more than a casual basis.

Mr Potter is also the man Hyundai pays to help tune the suspension and dampers on the i30 SR hot hatch, as well as its forthcoming smaller Accent SR sibling.

Trust us, we aren’t dropping names for no reason: the SR’s 129kW 2.0 engine may get the attention, but it’s the suspension work conducted by Hyundai’s small Australian team in consultation with Mr Potter that make the company’s first crack at a warm hatch (in the conventional sense) such a surprise packet.

It’s a worthy entrant into a burgeoning sub-segment alongside the Cruze SRi-V, Pulsar SSS and Mazda3 SP25, and a sign that Hyundai means it when it says it wants to sex up its image.

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