The Sky Blues notched three goals in the opening half at the Ricoh Arena to stun the visitors.
Gary McSheffrey picked out a superb run by Claus Jorgensen and his diving header easily beat keeper Simon Royce to give the midfielder the distinction of scoring the first goal at the club's new ground.
Marc Bircham's right-wing centre should have been easily cleared by Marcus Hall but his mis-kicked clearance went behind the goal for a corner which the hosts dealt with comfortably.
Coventry went further ahead in the 24th minute with a goal which the visitors will have been disappointed to concede.
Another raking pass from Michael Doyle reached Dele Adebola near the right byline. Marked by Matthew Rose, the powerful striker twisted past the defender to squeeze in a shot from 10 yards which beat Royce at his near post.
Referee Tony Leake had a busy first half, dishing out yellow cards to Coventry's Matt Heath, Hall and Duffy and QPR's Dominic Shimmin as the match threatened to boil over in similar fashion to their pre-season clash in Ibiza.
Coventry were in Sky Blue heaven when they netted a third goal a minute before the break. James Scowcroft's right-wing cross should have been easily dealt with but QPR centre-half Shimmin hit his own post on his debut with the clearance and Adebola reacted quickly to slam in a close-range shot.
The game went from bad to worse for the London side in the 54th minute when Danny Shittu was dismissed for tugging Adebola's shirt as he rampaged towards goal. The defender was clearly unhappy with the decision as he eventually left the pitch.
Ian Holloway immediately brought on Mauro Milanese for Aaron Brown but Coventry didn't let up in their attack and McSheffrey met Jorgensen's corner to drive a powerful shot over the bar.
Soon after substitute Andy Morrell pulled the ball back to Adebola but he was denied his hat-trick by a fine save from Royce.