I like the Compact 100 drivers better than the Hella 500s, yes.
In my opinion and experience, there has not been a good or innovative product in the KC Daylighter line since the mid-1970s when they put a Westinghouse duo-focal midbeam (a 5-3/4" sealed beam unit) in a sturdy housing. Most of their line of lights is low-bid offshore stuff not especially well built and doesn't perform especially well; their primary claim to fame is their hotshot long warranty. I have never held a high view of companies or vendors who attempt to use a fancy-pants warranty to try and bluff around the shortcomings of their products, and to me that's what it looks like KC's policy is.
As for why the Jeep guys rave about them: you can find rave reviews for almost any product or service you care to name. Most people who review products (of whatever category) really are not very well qualified or equipped to do so, and despite their best intentions usually their reviews are heavily biased one way (they don't like it for whatever reason and so they're inclined to trash it in print as "revenge") or the other (they spent money on it and it meets their needs to some degree so they're inclined to sing its praises). It's only human nature to want to be taken seriously, and the internet allows anyone with a keyboard and a connection to be an instant (and instantly published) expert. How do you tell a genuine expert from a wannabe expert or a fanboy or a shill? Good question. I don't have a sure-fire answer!
Back to the topic at hand: it's easy to make a flood light and only slightly harder to make a spot light, and if you toss a giant high-watt bulb in it you really don't have to worry about optical efficiency or precision. It works, but it's a crude, sloppy, cheap-to-build, expensive-to-run, not-very-respectable way of doing it in my view.