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Former Porsche execs acquitted of stock manipulation charges

A German court acquitted former Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking and former CFO Holger Harter of stock manipulation charges, according to Bloomberg. Prosecutors alleged the men hid plans to takeover Volkswagen while publicly denying their intentions to investors. The presiding judge didn't find any merit to those claims, though. "There is nothing to the allegations, absolutely nothing," Judge Frank Maurer said, according to Bloomberg. "There was no secret plan to take over VW." Rather than Porsche taking over VW, the exact opposite eventually happened, and both execs stepped down. Investigators first indicted Wiedeking and Harter for alleged stock manipulation in late 2012. A court in Stuttgart dismissed the case in 2014 because of a lack of evidence, but an appeals court later overruled that decision. The current trial finally began in October 2015. If convicted, Wiedeking faced up to 30 months in prison, and Harter could have received up to 27 months, Bloomberg reported. Prosecutors also wanted one million euro ($1.1 million) fines from them and 807 million euros ($910 million) from Porsche. The acquittal might not be the end of this long-running case, though. In Germany, prosecutors have the right to appeal a ruling, and the lawyer hasn't made a final decision yet. If the court thinks there's a reason, the former execs could be back in front of a judge at some point in the future.

Porsche Cayman GT4 spotted at the N?rburgring

It was just the other day that we first caught wind of Porsche's plans to build a GT4 version of the Cayman, and now we're already looking at spy shots of the vehicle in question undergoing testing at - where else? - the Nürburgring.
With more aggressive front-end aero, a GT3-style air vent ahead of the front hood, a large wing at the back, and spindly alloys packed with over-sized brakes at each corner, this Cayman is clearly more extreme than even the range-topping GTS. The rear diffuser and central exhaust tips look about the same as those you'd find at the back of the Cayman GTS, though.
What we can't see, of course, is what Porsche has slotted in under the rear glass, how it's upgraded the interior and how much weight it's stripped out of the thing to get it down to fighting weight, but you can bet it'll come with a substantial power bump and a stripped-out interior with racing buckets and little else to open the gap between it and the GTS... and close the gap to the 911 GT3 which it will join as the baby brother in Porsche's performance-focused lineup. Click above to view the double-batch of spy shots.

Porsche's new twin-turbo V8 will power Audis

Porsche unveiled a new twin-turbo V8 engine at the 37th International Vienna Motor Symposium yesterday. According to a report from Car and Driver, the engine will see use in future V8 applications across the VW Group and could find its way into various Audis, Bentleys, and even the Lamborghini Urus. We expect to see it first in the 2017 Porsche Panamera. The engine makes 549 horsepower and 567 pound-feet of torque, or 21 hp less than the 4.8-liter twin-turbo V8 in the Panamera Turbo S. Welcome to the brave new world in which Porsche is a more-integrated part of the VW group. While the new engine puts out impressive numbers, it likely means that the Porsche-exclusive 4.8-liter is headed for the history books. Component sharing is nothing new - Porsche already uses other VW Group engines in its lineup - but it means the flat-four and flat-six engines in the 718 Boxster/Cayman and 911 will be the only unique powerplants remaining in the Stuttgart automaker's offerings. According to C/D, the new engine features cylinder deactivation and is optimized for future hybrid applications. It also consumes 30 percent less fuel than its predecessor, and will mate to both an 8-speed automatic and ZF's dual-clutch 8-speed. Along with the next Panamera, Porsche is also likely to use this engine in the Cayenne. A representative of Porsche North America was unable to provide any official information to Autoblog. If you're hungry for more details, click through to C/D's website. Related Video: News Source: Car and Driver, 37th International Vienna Motor Symposium Porsche Luxury Performance