Down on power.
 

Hey guys I have a question. With in the last few days I've been having really sluggish acceleration. If I give it 100% throttle it just falls in its face and goes no where really. It will also start flashing the check engine light at me. The light then goes off when I let off the gas. It seems the more load that is on the car ( like giving full throttle in a high gear at low speeds) the worse the sputtering is. The car is a 5 speed 2008 saturn astra with 29000 miles. Everything is stock. It has not had a "tune up" either. Ive read about a sensor that seems to go out on this car a lot. anyway,, If you need more info please let me know. Thanks ahead of time!

By any chance, is your car equipped with traction control ??

I was going to suggest a clogged cat con, but with that little amount of miles on it, I don't think that's it.

Yes the car has traction control. I've turned it off and the car acts the same way. also when the traction control is on and is activated I have a light on the dash that comes on. I was actually testing the traction control last night ( in the rain of course) lol but it seems to be working right.

That crossed my mind as well. But I think it's a little early to have a clogged cat. I'm hoping its just bad gas or something simple.

Could very well be a bad sensor.............check for codes brother.

Will it still store a code if the check engine light is not staying on?

Late model cars will store historical codes but i don't know that the average scanner can access them. If you get the codes read somewhere specifically ask them to read historical codes too

I'm thinking the whole problem might have been some bad gas. I got gas today at my normal gas station this morning and the car already seems to be running better. I'm hoping its not wishful thinking. We shall see!

It is wishful thinking. Have the codes read!