GolferGal,

Glad to hear you are you are enjoying it.

Biggest key to using this thing safely is to really lighten your foot, especially during inclement weather. The other key would be to make sure you are not still driving on the crappy stock Continental tires as they are for Summer only and their wet traction sucks.

I've learned I can drive exactly the way I did before just by learning to touch the pedal really lightly.

I have an Auto... so your experience may be more sensitive with the manual.

It would also depend on how 'tight' your clutch is and if you have learned the 'sweet spot' for clutch engagement.