I took a 300km trip and towards the end the car seemed to cut out for a split second 3 times.
The first two times I had cruise control and thought it might have been adjusting the speed, but the 3rd time cruise control was off.

Essentially it just felt like a bit of a jolt, as if the motor cut out for a split second.
Any ideas of what this could be, and if this is likely to manifest into an ongoing issue?

Bump for interest.

My car did this a few weeks ago. Not in quick succession, but once a week or there snouts.

Hasn't done it since, so I'm guessing weather or bad fuel? I haven't done any major work on the car in ages so I don't think it was the result of some poor spanner work.

Mine was not in succession other, the stutters were about 50km apart.
But 3 times in one trip?
My distributor is leaking oil, not sure if this can be the cause?

A short, sharp miss, like a single miss-fire, is most likely to be electrical, ie. no (or insufficient) spark. I'd be checking the usual culprits: plugs, leads, dist cap and rotor, and if all are ok I'd reckon your coil could be sending out early signals of impending retirement. The leaking thing doesn't sound good, in your position I'd source a good used dist/coil, tidy it up and pop it on a shelf in the garage ready to go for when yours dies.

Mine was not in succession other, the stutters were about 50km apart. But 3 times in one trip? My distributor is leaking oil, not sure if this can be the cause?

Could be?

I replaced the coil in my distributor around eight months ago. This cutout issue came and went a month ago.

However, I did replace the coil in hopes of curing a weird issue in which the car would drop a cylinder after closed throttle from high RPM. Car hasn't done the "dropped cylinder" thing since the coil replacement.

Note; I replaced the o-ring for the distributor when I replaced the coil.

Like you chief, I'm guessing.

What is the coil exactly, is it part of the distributor?

In my case the distributor was leaking so I installed a new o-ring, except now it is leaking more than before. I've bought a new o-ring to do the job all over again.

My plugs, leads, rotor and cap are all new.

I assume if there was a single cylinder miss I would not have noticed anything? And that for this stutter to be pronounced all cylinders stopped for a brief second?

No, you definitely notice a single plug not firing in the V6. It generally does that under low revs/high load if it is an electrcal problem/weak spark.

If it goes on for longer - you mention a stutter - it could be the cam angle or crank angle sensor sending an out of spec signal to the ECU. The car should give you a CEL as this happens, but go out straight away. The error code will be stored in memory though.

The coil is definitely inside the distributor, so is the cam angle sensor. As far as I know, someone flame me if the cam angle sensor is elsewhere.

The coil is basically a transformer, stepping up the input voltage (12V) to the thousands of volts required to jump the spark plug gap. In 3rd Gens the coil is integrated into the distributor body below the rotor. Apparently it can be removed and replaced but I've never bothered, preferring to replace the whole dizzy. When you re-fit the distributor to fit the new O-ring, clean up the outside of the dizzy where it goes into the engine with a pot scrubber to remove any varnish, as well as the inside of where it fits into the block. Smear a bit of engine oil over both faces and the O-ring and slide the dizzy in carefully, making sure the O-ring doesn't pinch.

I think there is a power transistor in the distributor circuitry that steps the 12V ignition pulse up to 400 V before it goes into the coil. It does on 1st and 2nd gen Magnas, anyway.

I'd read the error codes, to see if anything is amiss, then clean out the distributor & cap and redo the oil "O" ring.

Did you happen to have the aircon running at the time? I was on a long trip once and thought the engine had developed a miss. Turns out it was just the aircon compressor cutting in and out.

Yes the A/C was on the whole way.
I think though if not set to the Eco mode the compressor will never switch off?

Yes the A/C was on the whole way.
I think though if not set to the Eco mode the compressor will never switch off?

Nope. It will switch off once the cabin reaches the desired temp, and cut back in when it goes up.
In very hot weather, it may be running non stop, but it is not common. Also if it is low on gas it might run non stop.

There is a temperature sensor in the dash somewhere. Don't know what temperature it switches the compressor on/off though.

I had my climate control set to 18 degrees though, and it was not that cool inside (it was cool, but not 18 degrees for sure)

My car has also been cutting out on and off for years now. Its very erratic and sometimes I dont notice it for a month or two straight. At a steady speed, its not as blatant as when accelerating. At high revs in a manual, the cut out has quite a braking effect. Was a bit freaked out the first time it happened... Would love a cure, but Ive become sort of accustomed to it.

I've encountered something that might be related to this, as ever since I got my car I've noticed the occasional momentary blink in headlight output - what appears to be a dropout that is faster than the eye blinking. It's a bit more obvious with high beam on, but I've been aware of it with low beam only.

I've never become aware of any change in the car's running when this happens - no exhaust note change, no change in engine response or feeling of stumbling nor even any change in interior lighting (usually only the dash lighting is on though when this happens).

I eventually concluded that it was probably associated with the A/C compressor clutch engaging. It hasn't become more obvious with time, so I've stopped worrying about it for the time being...

I definitely get the same with the clutch engaging Wyt, but that is something else and hardly phases me. I wonder why it does that though. I dont recall ever noticing it on other cars. Does a Magna A/C pull more current when engaging the clutch than the average car? And if so, why? Would be nice to know.

I've never noticed any headlight dimming when the A/C engages.

Relating to my original question, I believe I noticed this jolt happen with the A/C off as well, so it may not be the compressor being engaged.

Any other suggestions as to what it may be?

Update: I have had a new MAF on for a few months and not a single hiccup. I did also notice my plug wasnt clipping in, so I zip tied it with two ties, though Im still thinking it was the MAF.

To give an update on my situation as well, I don't know if there is a correlation or just coincidence but the hiccup only emerged after doing a timing belt, tensioner etc change.
Now, the tensioner was not set right so it had to be redone and since then (quite a few thousand km) I haven't had a hiccup.

Could the timing belt have caused this issue?