There was an early blow for City, though, as Mark Lynch slammed into an advertising hoarding following a challenge from Paul Furlong, who was thereafter roundly booed by the home support. After a minutes of treatment, Lynch was replaced by Damien Delaney and it later emerged he had dislocated his knee.
Seconds later, QPR's Marc Bircham blazed over from 18 yards, after the referee waved away City's pleas for handball.
The Tigers began to gain the upper hand in the opening ten minutes, with a corner from Andy Dawson causing problems for QPR and Leon Cort seeing a header blocked.
Kevin Gallen missed a good opportunity to give Rangers the lead against the run of play in the 14th minute, when he deflected a cross inches wide of goal.
City were inches away from scoring themselves a few minutes later, when Steve McPhee's touch was deflected past the near post, after good work from Ryan France to drag the ball back from the byline. Cort saw another header fly just wide from the subsequent corner.
A superb last-ditch tackle in the box from Cort prevented what would surely have been a 40th-minute opener for Furlong, who had evaded the Tigers' defence and was unmarked just 12 yards in front of goal.
QPR began to grow in stature towards the end of the half, forcing the Tigers back and looking increasingly organised up front.
Cort had yet another header saved in the 54th minute - QPR goalkeeper Simon Royce gathering the low 18-yard effort cleanly.
A free-kick from Dawson, given after Georges Santos was booked for felling McPhee, went wide in the 62nd minute. Seconds later, Boaz Myhill did well to beat away a long-range effort from Martin Rowlands.
Tensions began to rise in the last third, heightened by some offensive chanting from a small section of the home fans and at one point it threatened to overshadow events on the pitch.
However, the game became more end-to-end in the closing stages, but neither side looked likely to make the breakthrough. A home corner in added time raised the atmosphere briefly, but the match fizzled out.