They ran over, around and right through the Force in Perth on Saturday, notching a 55-6 victory.
It extended the team's record winning streak to eight games and leaves it 10 points in front of the Blues in the race for the playoffs.
The visiting side surpassed its previous record winning margin of 43, recorded against the Stormers in Dunedin less than a month ago.
The Highlanders ran in eight tries, six in the second half, as they made light work of the slippery conditions and showed their ability to strike from anywhere on the park.
After a competitive start, the Force folded defensively and hardly fired a shot on attack. Yellow cards to Semisi Masirewa and Rory Arnold did not help, but many of the home team's problems came from straight missed tackles.
It looked to the air to create pressure, as the Highlanders struggled with the high ball. However, it was not a tactic that yielded points and the dropped balls were ones from which the Highlanders were able to recover.
On the other hand, the Highlanders were able to make their pressure count, something which pleased coach Tony Brown.
``I think it was probably one of our best performances throughout the year, just really clinical for most of the game,'' Brown said.
``There was a few areas, obviously the high ball, [that] didn't go that well.
``The amount of pressure we were able to put on the Force, [allowed us to create] a lot of opportunities and put them under the pump.
``In the second half we just executed really well.''
Brown said the high ball issues Patrick Osborne and Matt Faddes experienced were just a bad day and he was confident in the ability of both in that area.
After losing three of its first four games, the team has now won eight in a row and Brown said there was plenty of confidence in the group.
``When the dust settles after a performance it's always good to look at those records.
``Obviously we've got eight in a row now and we've broken our highest winning margin again.
``So this team's starting to build real momentum and creating some real confidence from that.''
A Marty Banks penalty gave the visiting side a 3-0 lead in the 14th minute, before Tevita Li went over in the right corner to score first try.
The Force hit back with two penalties in quick succession, before Aki Seiuli scored after intercepting a pass from Bill Meakes, who had just intercepted one from Kayne Hammington.
Masirewa was yellow carded a minute before the break after a professional foul just metres out from the Force line.
The Highlanders turned down the shot at goal and were unable to score off the ensuing scrum, to go to halftime with a 17-6 lead.
Osborne ran virtually untouched to score from long-range just after the break, before Seiuli added another not long after. In between times, Arnold was sin binned and the Force never recovered.
Thompson came off the bench to score twice. He was also hauled down just short of the line and setting up Dillon Hunt for one of his own.
Richard Buckman got in on the act with an intercept try.
In other games, the Stormers beat the Blues 33-22, while the Hurricanes romped home 61-7 against the Cheetahs.
The Sharks won 38-17 over the Sunwolves, the Lions thrashed the Bulls 51-14, the Brumbies claimed a 19-10 victory over the Kings and the Waratahs downed the Rebels.