Yes. In my personal road situation I'd be happy to exchange more tire noise (which is more of a consistent white noise) for the abrupt and annoying other car so

Yes. In my personal road situation I'd be happy to exchange more tire noise (which is more of a consistent white noise) for the abrupt and annoying other car sounds. There's still a chance that net tire noise would be same or less: "Tires running higher inflation pressures generate lower noise levels compared to those with lower inflation levels." https://www.tirereview.com/the-fight-against-tire-noise/ https://www.tirereview.com/the-fight-against-tire-noise/ I suspect that other design choices (e.g. fender skirts like on the Honda Insight) could be made that would further reduce tire noise.