Zimmermann brake discs: Sport Z, Black Z and the Formula lines

Who is behind Zimmermann

Otto Zimmermann GmbH has been building brake discs in Sinsheim, Baden-Württemberg, since 1947 and supplies both original equipment and the independent aftermarket. The sport program has grown out of this production line over decades - these are not small-batch bought-in parts, but discs from the same manufacturing, with additional processing and their own friction ring geometries.

For the shop that's a double advantage: vehicle coverage is as broad as with a production manufacturer, and because Zimmermann works as a certified data supplier for TecDoc, every article number carries clean technical data - diameter, thickness, minimum thickness, bolt pattern and approval mark.

The five lines at a glance

• Sport Z - one-piece, drilled, fully coated. The everyday disc of the program: better wet braking performance, no surface rust on the hat, broadest vehicle coverage.
• Black Z - one-piece, slotted, black-coated. The grooves keep the friction surface clean; the dark coating is the visually quieter choice behind open wheels.
• Formula Z - two-piece, vented, floating friction ring on an aluminum hat. The track-day building block: less unsprung mass, more even heat expansion.
• Formula F - two-piece with aluminum hat, friction ring geometry designed for light weight with pronounced internal venting.
• Formula S - two-piece with steel hat, the program's motorsport line for sustained high temperatures.

Drilled or slotted - Sport Z or Black Z?

Both designs pursue the same goal: keeping the contact surface between pad and disc clean and venting gases. Holes (Sport Z) clear water faster and look sportier behind the wheel; slots (Black Z) scrape the friction surface clean and are the more robust geometry under very high thermal load, because no hole acts as a starting point for cracks.

For predominantly road use with the occasional track outing, both are right - the decision comes down more to looks and pad choice. Anyone who regularly drives long, hot brake applications is better served by the slotted variant, or straight away by a two-piece Formula disc.

What ECE R90 means

ECE R90 is the European component type approval for brake replacement parts. It proves that a replacement disc is equivalent to the vehicle's original part in friction behavior, strength and thermal load capacity. In practice that means: a disc with ECE R90 may be driven without registration and without a parts certificate, and the vehicle's operating permit stays untouched.

Most of the program carries this approval - not just Sport Z and Black Z: many Formula models carry ECE R90 or an ABE as well. What counts is always the approval mark on the specific article, and every product page shows it as its own “Street legal” line. Where that line shows no approval, the disc is a pure motorsport part. For individual articles we are still obtaining the manufacturer's final confirmation.

The Zimmermann program at RACING23

RACING23 carries all five lines. Every product page shows the technical dimensions from the manufacturer's data set - outer diameter, disc thickness, minimum thickness, centering bore and bolt pattern - so the disc can be compared unambiguously with the one fitted. Discs are run per axle: where Zimmermann supplies the axle set, it is listed as the variant “Brake disc set (2 pieces)”.

The fastest route to the right set is the vehicle search by HSN/TSN or by manufacturer & model. Anyone combining the discs with sport pads should choose pads to match the temperature - the use-case filter in the results helps with that.