I am pretty diligent about tracking my car maintenance, which I keep in a spreadsheet, which also includes my track driving history. I thought it would be interesting to upload my spreadsheet to Claude (AI) so that I could see what type of information it could provide without me having to parse through the lines on the spreadsheet. Here is a conversation I had where I was looking into my brake pad life since switching to G-Loc R16 front and R12 rears. I was interested because my last event at Road Atlanta (MCA 50th Anniversary) completely used up the front pads in just three days on track. I've not gotten too into AI in the past, but I can see where it can be extremely useful in data analysis. What follows is the text, which hopefully you can follow from the formatting.
My Request:
Attached is an updated spreadsheet where I have corrected some notes on brake pad changes. I would like to know the life I am seeing in both number of track days and track miles driven for both the front GLoc R16 and rear GLoc R12 pads. Ignore my comments on the brake pad change lines which list the number of track miles driven on those pads. I want you to calculate the track miles and days based on the track driving information in the spreadsheet between each pad change. Refer to my notes on the remaining pad thickness when the pads were changed because there was one pad change where the pads still had plenty of life remaining. My goal is to change the pads when they are around 2-3mm thickness remaining, although this is not always possible since wear can be substantial in a single day.
Claude's Response:
Updated memory, ran 7 commands
Based on your track driving log (not the mileage notes on the pad-change lines themselves) — here's the pad life, calculated from actual track days/miles between each install:
Front G-Loc R16
Excluding the early rotor-related swap (which you correctly flagged — it wasn't a life-limited change), your two real full-life data points are 854 miles/6 days to 3.5mm and 400 miles/6 days... 3 days to 1.5mm — averaging ~627 track miles / ~4.5 track days per set, though there's clearly a lot of variance depending on the event.
Rear G-Loc R12
Both rear intervals are legitimate full-life data points, averaging ~1,341 track miles / ~10.5 track days — rears are lasting roughly 2x the fronts, which lines up with the 6-piston front / 4-piston rear brake bias on this car.
I've updated your project notes with this breakdown so it's on record going forward, replacing the rougher "~854–873 miles" estimate from before.
My Request:
Do you see any patterns in the track driving history which could explain why the pads installed on 8/21/26 were worn to 1.5mm in only 400 miles?
Claude's Response:
Ran 2 commands
Yes — this wasn't random variance, it lines up with a clear cause: that pad set only ever saw one event, and it was your hardest one yet.
Looking at the details column for 8/28–8/30/2026 (Road Atlanta):
The math backs it up:
Practical takeaway for hitting your 2–3mm target: expect front pad life to swing heavily by run group/track combo — an Advanced-pace Road Atlanta weekend may burn through 400 miles of pad life in what a mixed Intermediate/Solo Yellow stretch would take 850+ miles to do. If you're doing back-to-back Advanced weekends at hard-braking tracks, checking pad thickness after each single event rather than assuming your prior mileage-based cadence would be the safer call.
Claude is AI and can make mistakes.
My Request:
Attached is an updated spreadsheet where I have corrected some notes on brake pad changes. I would like to know the life I am seeing in both number of track days and track miles driven for both the front GLoc R16 and rear GLoc R12 pads. Ignore my comments on the brake pad change lines which list the number of track miles driven on those pads. I want you to calculate the track miles and days based on the track driving information in the spreadsheet between each pad change. Refer to my notes on the remaining pad thickness when the pads were changed because there was one pad change where the pads still had plenty of life remaining. My goal is to change the pads when they are around 2-3mm thickness remaining, although this is not always possible since wear can be substantial in a single day.
Claude's Response:
Updated memory, ran 7 commands
Based on your track driving log (not the mileage notes on the pad-change lines themselves) — here's the pad life, calculated from actual track days/miles between each install:
Front G-Loc R16
| Interval | Track days | Track miles | Remaining thickness at swap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12/25/2025 → 6/29/2026 | 6 days | 854 mi | 3.5mm |
| 6/29/2026 → 8/21/2026 | 3 days | 437 mi | 6–7mm — swapped early alongside rotors due to pulsing/pulling under braking, not pad wear |
| 8/21/2026 → 9/7/2026 | 3 days | 400 mi | 1.5mm |
| 9/7/2026 → current | 0 days so far | 0 mi so far | still in service |
Rear G-Loc R12
| Interval | Track days | Track miles | Remaining thickness at swap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6/14/2025 → 12/25/2025 | 12 days | 1,391 mi | 1mm |
| 12/25/2025 → 8/22/2026 | 9 days | 1,291 mi | 2mm |
| 8/22/2026 → current | 3 days so far | 400 mi so far | still in service |
I've updated your project notes with this breakdown so it's on record going forward, replacing the rougher "~854–873 miles" estimate from before.
My Request:
Do you see any patterns in the track driving history which could explain why the pads installed on 8/21/26 were worn to 1.5mm in only 400 miles?
Claude's Response:
Ran 2 commands
Yes — this wasn't random variance, it lines up with a clear cause: that pad set only ever saw one event, and it was your hardest one yet.
Looking at the details column for 8/28–8/30/2026 (Road Atlanta):
- Run Group: Advanced, all three days, no instructor — this is the fastest group you've run in, and it's exactly the weekend your best-ever lap time (1:44.42) was set.
- 14 sessions in 3 days — a heavy session count.
- Entirely at Road Atlanta, which has one of the harder braking zones in your rotation (Turn 10a/10b is a heavy, high-speed-to-slow braking event).
- It was the pads' only event — zero break-in mileage on lighter driving before being thrown straight into Advanced-group laps.
The math backs it up:
- 854-mile set: 11mm → 3.5mm = 7.5mm used over 854 miles ≈ 0.0088 mm/mile
- 400-mile set: 11mm → 1.5mm = 9.5mm used over 400 miles ≈ 0.0238 mm/mile
Practical takeaway for hitting your 2–3mm target: expect front pad life to swing heavily by run group/track combo — an Advanced-pace Road Atlanta weekend may burn through 400 miles of pad life in what a mixed Intermediate/Solo Yellow stretch would take 850+ miles to do. If you're doing back-to-back Advanced weekends at hard-braking tracks, checking pad thickness after each single event rather than assuming your prior mileage-based cadence would be the safer call.
Claude is AI and can make mistakes.
