The application of the centrifugal pendulum vibration absorber (CPVA) has expanded from the aerospace sector to the automotive sector. To date, in most previous studies, viscous damping has been assumed to be present between the absorber and rotor, and damping has been neglected in other studies. To reflect and control the dynamic behaviour of the CPVA in vehicular applications realistically, a hybrid damping model incorporating viscous damping and rolling resistance was developed in this study and validated by conducting tests. Under the combined action of the centrifugal force, gravity, viscous resistance, and rolling resistance, an equation of motion of the CPVA was established using the Lagrangian function equation of the second type. The wear state of the kinematic pair between the absorber and rotor, which is common in practical applications, was included into a mathematical model in which the rolling resistance coefficient changes with the travel of the absorber, whereas the viscous resistance coefficient remains unchanged. A model was established to simulate the response of the absorber under a wide range of working conditions, and corresponding tests were performed. Compared with the results obtained using only viscous damping as reported in other studies, those of the proposed hybrid damping model are more consistent with the experimental results. This work fills the existing research gap and lays a foundation for further control of the dynamic behaviour of CPVAs in the gravitational field, particularly at low rotational speeds.