Twisted Metal 2 (PS1) - Thumper Tournament

Thumper stats:
Max Health: 120 HP
Handling: 85
Turning: 85
Acceleration: 5
Top Speed (Turbo): 110 MPH (147 MPH)
Special Weapon Damage: 76 (maximum, 43 + 33 full burn damage)
Max Specials Stored: 5
Special Regen Time: 75 seconds

Thumper has been considerably buffed in the transition between TM1 to TM2. More health, but more notably; a much stronger special weapon. And especially since the special weapon adds an on hit damage over time effect, it's very devastating if landed in full. However, as was before, doing so usually requires landing a freeze, and that can be a little tricky, especially if your target is good at avoiding them. But the flamethrower is also good at finishing off low health enemies.

Furthermore, he now has the longest special weapon regen time in the game, so you better make it count, otherwise Thumper isn't particularly threatening. You must also take care not to ignite yourself by making contact with an enemy that's on fire, or you'll find your own health melting away too, or spending 5 turbo to extinguish yourself. And as with Grimm, a whole minute is a long time to go without your special weapon. Ultimately Thumper's buffs just mean he gets more bang for his buck, but don't fix his core drawbacks. He still needs to be very close, and making his special work to it's fullest is expensive, risky, and sometimes difficult. A lot of people swear by him, and while he is a great bot killer (since bots don't consciously dodge anything) I think he's a bottom 5 car, but he's probably the best of those bottom 5 cars.

0:00 Thumper
0:41 Los Angeles
7:35 Moscow
10:39 Paris
16:21 Amazonia
21:53 Minion
23:23 New York
30:08 Antarctica
35:40 Holland
40:57 Hong Kong
52:01 Dark Tooth
53:45 Ending