Same thing could be said about the Toyota AE86 in its day. The AE86 came out around the same time when the e30 M3, the mk3 supra, and the FC RX7 were also being released. The AE86 made "only" 128hp, the RX7 turbo made 200hp, and the mk3 supra made 230hp. Guess which one became the icon of drifting in Japan?
Take one look at the grassroots drift scene over at Ebisu Circuit and you'll notice that nearly everyone's running Silvias, Skyline GTSTs and AE86s. Hardly anyone is taking cars with over 300hp to the track... Too much power.