A multizone thermodynamic method has been developed to determine combustion rate and NO formation from measured cylinder pressures and performance of two-stroke diesel engines. Integral to the analytical method is a nonlinear fit to the combustion chamber heat loss; the fit is consistent with the overall energy balance and with measured fuel consumption rate and exhaust temperature. The method assumes equilibrium combustion properties except for NO, whose relatively slow formation is estimated using the extended Zeldovich mechanism in the post-flame gas during a period of one mixing time. Application of the method to a 2-stroke diesel engine indicates a post-flame mixing time of 0.55 ms or 4 deg crank angle at 1250 rpm, yielding exhaust concentrations of NO considerably less than what would have been expected from equilibrium-then-sudden-freezing considerations.