I have a '07 Saturn Aura with 211K miles on it. I was driving on the highw ay earlier today with the cruise set on 70. Without warning the cruise dis engaged, I heard a few "bongs," and my DIC was displaying ENG PWR REDUCED a nd SERVICE TRACTION (not sure if that's exact, but, it mentioned the tracti on). I noticed immediately that I only had about half of my usual accelera tion. I pulled over, turned off the car, and waited a few seconds before r estarting the engine. The same DIC messages appeared when I started the ca r again. I drove it the remaining 25 miles to work. When I got to work I shut it off and let it sit for about 10 minutes. I then started it back up and the messages didn't reappear.
I realize there are a great many things that can cause this condition. Wha t's the best case scenario? What's the worst case scenario?