James Perch was sent off as QPR suffered a second defeat in three matches since Ian Holloway’s recent return as manager.
Wolves, without a win in their previous nine games, scored twice in the space of six second-half minutes at Loftus Road, where Joel Lynch pulled a goal back late on and then missed a glorious chance to equalise.
Dave Edwards put Paul Lambert’s side ahead and Helder Costa’s goal doubled their lead.
Lynch blasted into the roof of the net from close range following Jack Robinson’s 90th-minute throw-in – his first goal for QPR.
But Lynch then failed to make contact from six yards out when Tjaronn Chery’s free-kick was headed down by Idrissa Sylla.
Rangers were left facing an uphill task when Perch was dismissed on 34 minutes for a second yellow card following a foul on Matt Doherty.
They had earlier appealed in vain for a penalty when Perch’s cross struck Doherty’s hand in the area.
The visitors broke the deadlock just before the hour mark with their first goal since Lambert took over as boss.
Dominic Iorfa, son of the former QPR striker, crossed from the right and Edwards drilled the ball home from 10 yards out.
Costa then scored a superb individual goal, jinking his way into the box and turning away from Lynch before firing into the far corner.
QPR had made the early running, with Chery sending a shot wide and having a couple of free-kicks comfortably saved by Wolves keeper Carl Ikeme.
Grant Hall, playing in midfield alongside Sandro, saw a goal-bound volley strike Wolves defender Danny Batth, and R’s skipper Nedum Onuoha volleyed over.
At the other end, the outstanding Alex Smithies was down quickly to keep out Costa’s volley.
Shortly after Perch’s sending-off, Edwards missed the best chance of the first half when he headed Costa’s right-wing cross wide of the target.
But Edwards made no mistake when another chance came his way – and he would then have scored a second had Smithies not produced a fine save to keep out his header from Conor Coady’s cross.
It was a temporary reprieve for Rangers, who would have lost by a bigger margin but for Smithies, who prevented a third goal by denying Doherty and substitute Jon Dadi Bodvardsson at point-blank range.
That kept them in the game and helped set up a frantic seven minutes of injury time after Lynch’s goal.
But Holloway’s men were unable to find an equaliser and Smithies was called upon twice more to save from Costa and Bodvarsson.
QPR: Smithies; Pech, Onuoha, Lynch, Robinson; Chery, Hall, Sandro (Henry 62), Luongo; Washington (Ngbakoto 45), Polter (Sylla 67).
Subs not used: Ingram, Bidwell, Cousins, Gladwin, Sylla.
This post was last modified on 02/12/2016