What is "rice burner"

n. (context slang ethnic slur humorous English) an ordinary motor car (especially a Japanese one) made to look fast or special by adding inappropriate extras

__NOTOC__ Rice burner is a pejorative, used as early as the 1960s, originally describing Japanese motorcycles, then later applied to Japanese cars, and eventually to Asian-made motorcycles and automobiles in general. The term most often refers to vehicles manufactured in East Asia, where rice is a staple food. Variations include rice rocket (referring most often to Japanese superbikes), rice machine, rice grinder or simply ricer.

The adjectival variation riced out describes the result of "overmodifying a sports compact, usually with oversized or ill-matched exterior appointments". The term is often intended to disparage cars which have been modified cosmetically to give a false impression of high performance, but are not actually capable of it. The accusation is that the car has been customized with the intent to deceive.

The term is often defined as offensive or racist stereotyping. In some cases users of the term assert that it is not offensive or racist, or else treat the term as a humorous, mild insult rather than a racial slur.