What verb would you use to describe the sound tires make when they roll on the asphalt?

Solution 1:

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

Solution 2:

Consider, hum.

: to make a continuous low-pitched droning sound.

The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus

The hum of tires on blacktop. The smells of some stranger's car seats, a kid's juice box, our sweat. “What's happening to us?” whispered Russell.

Mad Dogs

Solution 3:

I suggest the 'swish of tires'.

It seems that there is some support for that. There are examples with both US and UK spelling.

swish of tires

and

swish of tyres

Solution 4:

Although I’ve only seen it used this way in one or two novels, I like “shushing” for the quiet noise tires make, especially when the road is wet, or the car is moving slowly.

The Oxford English dictionary defines shushing as, “to move with or make a soft swishing or rustling sound.”