Leon McKenzie and Dele Adebola scored for the home side either side of goals from Michael Chopra - his sixth goal in four games - and Peter Whittingham.
Referee Graham Poll was the busiest man on the pitch as he issued six yellow cards and sent off Bluebirds defender Glenn Loovens.
The result left Coventry with just one win in their last 12 games but brought Cardiff's run of three consecutive victories to an end.
In a tight opening to the game Coventry took the lead with the first real chance.
Michael Doyle picked up the ball in midfield and his long diagonal pass released Michael Mifsud on Coventry's right.
The Malta international beat Cardiff defender Joe Ledley before picking out McKenzie with a pin-point pass.
The former Norwich forward turned to get the ball on his favoured right foot before shooting past the despairing dive of Bluebirds keeper Neil Alexander for his sixth goal of the season.
Coventry almost doubled their lead in the 17th minute as a ball over the top saw Jay Tabb race clear but his shot was parried by Alexander. The ball dropped to McKenzie but he scooped the ball over the top.
Chopra put a 25-yard free-kick narrowly over the top and Paul Parry shot just wide as Cardiff began to show the class that has seen them challenge for a play-off place.
Tabb crossed the ball in the 27th minute and brave Alexander smothered the ball but was clattered by a lunging McKenzie - which earned the Coventry forward a yellow card and led to lengthy treatment for the keeper.
The game started to get scrappy with Tabb for Coventry and Loovens for Cardiff picking up yellow cards for untidy challenges.
But Coventry almost stretched their lead in the 43rd minute as a mistake by Loovens let in Adebola. He played in Mifsud whose shot hit the inside of the post and rebounded to safety.
The miss proved costly as Cardiff equalised in first-half injury time. Poll awarded a penalty after adjudging that Robert Page had obstructed Roger Johnson from a corner.
It gave Chopra the chance to score his 18th goal of the season as he sent keeper Andy Marshall the wrong way.
The second half started as scrappily as the first had ended, with both sides struggling to get a grip on the game - a 20-yard snap-shot from Mifsud that flew straight at the goalkeeper proving to be the best chance.
A mistake by David McNamee let in Whittingham in the 57th minute only for him to blaze over, but he was to take another chance a minute later.
Parry found the former Aston Villa midfielder and, from 25 yards, he curled a delightful shot into Marshall's top right corner.
Cardiff were reduced to 10 men when Loovens brought down Mifsud, He was handed a second yellow card but substitute Stuart Giddings put the resulting free-kick just over.
Coventry started to pressurise and drew level with a lovely flowing move in the 71st minute.
It resulted in Tabb flighting in a cross from the left-hand side which was emphatically headed home by Adebola.
McKenzie then twice had the ball in the net in a five-minute spell but each time his headers were ruled out for pushing as Cardiff held on.
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