12" arms - VTA advantage?

We have all read the discussions about different distortion levels and tracking error between 9" and 12" arms. I have just spent some time readjusting the VTA on my SME V. As adjustment is not "on-the-fly" or easy like on some other arms, I have decided to set it for the thickness of the majority of the LPs I enjoy listening to most, thinner, classical music, in my case. For the thicker 180g reissues, the VTA ends up being a bit lower in the back than is ideal.

Would a 12" arm not reduce this VTA height difference more that a 9" arm? Leaving aside the disadvantages of the added mass of longer arms for the moment, is this not another advantage of the geometry of a longer arm? Why is this not discussed as much as the distortion/tracking issue.