Can an Allison 4700 be made into an 8 speed auto?

Hi,

Any Allison techs on this site?

I was looking at the clutch activation chart for the Allison 4000 series and see that 1st gear is achieved by activating C1+C5 for a ratio of 3.51:1. 2nd is C1+C4 and 3rd is C1+C3. Now, the 7 speed 4700 series adds a whole new lower ratio planetary gear set, so the new 1st is now C1+C6 (which was the old C5 and has a ratio of 7.63:1). If this is correct, it looks to me like it should be possible to use C1+C6, C1+C5 and C1+C4 to create 3 new lower gear ratios, which would another gear between 1st and 2nd, right where it would be needed.

So, I'm wondering if this is doable. It should just be a software change since the hardware on the 4700 series is already there. I understand that Allison wouldn't really want to do this since it would cut into sales of the TC10 but that transmission is really expensive and only offered by Navistar on a new truck.

Rob