I thought they had are hard time starting because of the position of the intake valve and its correlation with the piston location.

 

2 strokes don't intake the same, There is no valve. Only exhaust valve.
i should add more to this

a diesel 2 stroke intakes at the bottom of the stroke though vents in the cylinder walls. And fires every stroke, like a 2 stroke.

a 2 stroke is more efficent then a 4stroke diesel, but if there are problems, they are hard to find because they run so smooth. The downfall to a 2stroke is more waste and emissions. Thats why they are discontinued. However they run very good. Lots of shops still use them for machinery inside. I know GM still does.

 

talyn, 100% sure it was a roots/screw type blower, just ran across the street to the firehouse, opened the doghouse for th engine and confirmed. i should have gotten a picture, but i forgot. its a screw/roots type fed by a turbo directly above it. the paxton ur refering to is a centrifugal type supercharger. gotta agree with ya though, they run like a dream (until they run away..........then BOOOOOOOM!)

-Brandon

 

I wasn't sure on the supercharger part. I was guessing there.
I didn't think they'd use a screwblower. they are just.. obnoxious. haha.