First-half goals from Daryl Murphy and Grant Leadbitter proved decisive in the end and, although QPR clawed one back late on through substitute Ray Jones, Sunderland should have won by a far greater margin.
Even without the injured duo of Dwight Yorke and Lewis Nyatanga, Sunderland came out of the blocks with real intent and almost from the kick-off QPR struggled to work out how to handle their 4-5-1 formation.
As a result, Sunderland's five-man midfield stormed through QPR's shockingly fragile defence with regularity and had carved out three genuine chances inside the opening exchanges.
With Sunderland's Graham Kavanagh pulling the strings in an overcrowded midfield, the away side employed a high-tempo brand of football that repeatedly troubled QPR.
The pressure finally told when QPR failed to clear a Sunderland corner and striker Murphy - guilty of an earlier miss - made amends with an instinctive glancing header to direct Leadbitter's shot into the net.
Then almost immediately QPR thought they had equalised when Lee Cook's corner was expertly headed in by Dexter Blackstock.
But the goal was chalked off because one of the home team had strayed offside much to the anger of the QPR fans who later hurled a plastic bottle at referee Uriah Rennie.
Led by Kevin Gallen, QPR staged a spirited comeback but the hosts found themselves being completely outclassed by a confident Sunderland side.
In first-half stoppage time Sunderland extended their lead when Leadbitter was put clean through and he expertly side-stepped the advancing figure of Simon Royce to score.
After the break, QPR reshuffled their line-up and brought on teenage targetman Jones who proceeded to cause Sunderland's backline a handful of problems.
Even though they rarely threatened to add to their lead, Sunderland were always comfortably in control used the ball sensibly all over the pitch.
Until against the run of play, Jones brought the game to life with a goal conjured out of nothing.
The highly-rated youngster used his big frame to create enough for space for a shot before sweeping a right-footed drive into the bottom corner.
The goal triggered a late rally from the home team who suddenly found a new lease of life going forward, but Sunderland stood firm and refused to buckle under the pressure.
Sunderland should have scored a late third goal to kill the game off when Ross Wallace was presented with a straightforward chance from three yards out but somehow missed the target completely.