In a previous question, I mentioned an English teacher who changed the following sentence “…the rustling of tires." to “…the rustle of tires.”
It seems; however, that rustle has been assessed and rejected, so how would you describe the noise tires make on the asphalt? If they don't rustle, what do they do?
Would "swoosh" do, or is it too childish?
Best Answer
In addition to earlier suggestions:
'Rumble' ('soft rumble' / 'heavy rumble' )
'Hiss'
'Drumming'
'Crunch' (on gravel)
'Thrum'
'Drone'
One might talk of 'drumming' of tyres on dry asphalt roads, particularly where the tyres have large tread patterns (as typical of four-wheel drive off-road vehicles). When heard from normal car tyres this may indicate the tyre has been improperly mounted, as most car tyres are meant to be relatively quiet in normal operation.
On wet roads one might talk about the 'hiss' of tyres. A German term 'zischen' has been applied to this sound. In translation it means 'hiss' or 'fizz'.
Road surfaces can be modified to increase tyre noise, sometimes as a safety measure on the approach to an intersection, or at the edge or centre of a road. Generally these are known as 'rumble strips' and one might extrapolate that they are intended to create 'tyre rumble'. In some cases the road surface is modified so as to create a musical sound when driven over by a vehicle's tyres, see: http://abcnews.go.com/WN/Webcast/story?id=3931873&page=1
'Crunch' is the very specific sound tyres make on gravel, most usually in the context (in cinema at least) of driveways on wealthy country estates.
'Thrum' and 'drone' are vaguely musical terms, describing a sustained note or hum.
Generally there is a dearth of current words to describe tyre noise because tyre manufacturers are working very hard - and fairly successfully - towards eliminating tyre noises altogether. See: http://tires.about.com/od/understanding_tires/a/Tire-Noise.htm