I had a Super Dimona (now known as Katana Xtreme) from 1995-1998 and
found it much better than some of the disparaging remarks here would
indicate. Soon after I got it, another "old, but no longer bold, ex
contest pilot" (as John's signature describes him) who was thinking of
getting a similar ship went up with me out of Minden to see if the
thing really could do any soaring. What, with the prop (even feathered)
and the gear hanging down, he was worried it was really a power plane
that only pretended to soar. When we successfully did a 40 nm final
glide from Hilton Ranch into Minden, he told me "You've just cost me a
lot of money." He ended up buying a Grob 109B while continuing to fly
his 15 meter ship as well -- even setting a speed record in it. So
these draggy motor gliders can appeal to even some of the best among
us.

Yes, all that drag means you can't set records or even do most 300 km
flights without using the engine a little here and there. But (at least
out of Minden or Tonopah) if you're willing to use the engine 5-10
minutes per hour, you can do many x-country tasks that even an open
class ship couldn't. Admittedly, that's not "pure soaring", but it's
still a lot of fun -- at least for some of us. Hopefully soaring has
room for us too. In areas with less powerful thermals, the ability to
turn on the engine to get through sink (or non-lift) would seem even
more important.

On the Super Dimona vs. the Super Ximango: When I bought mine the
Ximango didn't have good representation in the US so getting service
was a concern of mine. Also, in calling around to owners of both types,
I got the impression that the Ximango had poorer climb performance --
which was a big issue for me since I fly out of high altitude airports
and cross 10k foot passes. The Super Dimona lived up to its specs and
did fine for me at the higher altitudes. The difference in climb
performance is less of an issue now that both have 914 (turbocharged)
options, but if you're looking at a used 912 (normally aspirated) ship,
I'd check into that. If memory serves me, the published climb rates
were not that different, but the actual performance (at least among the
people I talked to) was different.

One last point, if you want to hangar it, you should probably buy a
Ximango. The wing folding is truly one-person, five minutes, whereas
I've heard the Super Dimona's "folding wing" option is not much better
than taking them off. (Mine didn't have that option.)

Martin