Mercedes announced that, in 2002, they would join Renault in the trend towards wider angled engines. Unlike Renault, which introduced a 110 degree engine in 2001, Mercedes would still be pretty conservative and produce a 90 degree V engine in place of their existing 72 degree unit. The advantage of a wider V is that the engine height can be reduced which allows a lower centre of gravity. However, there are drawbacks to the approach. Wider angles make for wider engines which can give rise to packaging problems.