Not sure how close the family resemblance is but my Fiat Marea had the same "issue", which is quite frightening when stuck in traffic. It would also cough when holding a constant speed, as if running out of fuel.
In my case it was the plug onto the throttle rheostat which had broken inside. It's held on by a simple plastic lever at the back, so very little effort to unplug it. The plug consists of three female spade connectors which go onto the throttle rheostat. The computer couldn't read the throttle position so revs the engine.
THIS WORKED FOR ME; With the plug in place, remove the wire (which was flapping free anyway), pushed a couple of pins down into the spade connector, put the wire back and stuffed the hole with copper wire.
John McMahon, September 2007
