Its a somewhat new car, you shouldn’t have to baby it at all, even with the cold weather, cold oil in the gearbox or whatever.
If you have the clutch to the floor, and its griding the 1-2 when cold, yeah thats a problem.
There shouldn’t be any tricks to driving it, if its fucking up something is wrong.
I hope the dealer can reproduce the problem, and they don’t send you on your way with a “just drive it, its fine” diagnosis.
Steve, bring it over let me take it for a spin.